Digital Extra: The Station Fire

05:12 PM EDT on Tuesday, June 21, 2005

By JACK PERRY
projo.com staff

PROVIDENCE -- Cases related to The Station nightclub fire have been put on hold in state courts after water damaged the Warwick offices of a lawyer representing one of the club owners.

The law offices of Michael Derderian's lawyer, Kathleen Hagerty, on Sunday "sustained catastrophic water damage from a pipe that burst in the offices directly above," according to a court motion filed by the Hagerty's firm, Flaherty & Lawrence.

The state Supreme Court, granting a request from the firm, has put the firm's cases on hold until Aug. 20 or until further notice.

The order affects Station cases pending in the state's Superior, Supreme and Workers' Compensation Courts, according to Dyana Koelsch, a court spokeswoman.

A fire at the West Warwick nightclub on Feb. 20, 2003, killed 100 people and injured more than 200. The blaze was sparked by indoor fireworks set off for a performance by the rock band Great White. It became the worst fire on land in the state's history.

Brothers Michael A. and Jeffrey A. Derderian, co-owners of the nightclub, and Daniel M. Biechele, the former tour manager for the band, face criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in state court.

The state Workers' Compensation Court has ordered the Derderians to pay more than $200,000 in workers' compensation insurance benefits plus penalties owed to the families of four nightclub workers killed in the fire.

Civil cases are also pending in federal court. But the Derderians are being represented there by a different lawyer, Anthony F. DeMarco, who said those cases are not affected by the order.

The damage to the law offices could take several weeks to clean up and could force Flaherty & Lawrence to move, the firm said in its brief.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Lynn Arditi.