PROVIDENCE -- President Bush has again turned down Governor Carcieri's appeal for a disaster declaration for The Station nightclub fire, and for aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
With that avenue closed, the state's hope for additional aid to help pay for the response to the Feb. 20 fire now rests with ongoing discussions with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and with the efforts of the state's congressional delegation to add money for the Rhode Island fire into some other bill.
Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said the governor was "very disappointed in FEMA's decision, but not completely surprised."
The Bush administration had turned down Carcieri's original request for a disaster declaration in the days after the West Warwick fire, which killed 99 people, saying it did not qualify for aid under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief Act, which states, in part, that a disaster must be beyond the capacity of state and local governments to effectively manage.
Carcieri appealed the decision, and got essentially the same answer yesterday.
". . . It has been determined that this event, though tragic in nature, is not beyond the combined capabilities of the state and affected local governments, given the resources that have been made available from federal, state, local and voluntary entities," wrote Michael D. Brown, the undersecretary for emergency preparedness and response, in a letter to Carcieri dated yesterday.
Carcieri has projected the one-year cost of the fire to be $8.7 million. Some long-range cost estimates "exceed a hundred million dollars," Carcieri wrote to the president in his appeal, "partially because of the enormous costs associated with long-term disability and care of burn victims."
Carcieri had asked the president for access to public and individual assistance programs, such as unemployment benefits, crisis counseling, uninsured medical costs and money for other unmet needs.
Neal said, "The governor believes that Rhode Island had a good case to make for assistance, but ultimately our situation did not fit into the letter of the Stafford Act.
"While he's very disappointed, the governor would like to re-emphasize the fact that Rhode Island has received significant amounts of federal assistance to date."
That assistance has included a team of pathologists that helped identify the people killed in the fire, investigative help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and other aid.
The state is in "continuing discussions" with the Department of Health and Human Services on assistance for uncompensated care at Rhode Island hospitals. Those talks have no timetable, Neal said. A total of 65 people hurt in the fire were uninsured, Carcieri has said.
The governor argued last month that the state should qualify for a disaster declaration "given the uniqueness" of The Station fire, the fourth-deadliest nightclub blaze in U.S. history.
Sen. Jack Reed said in a statement that he "is again disappointed by President Bush's decision" to turn down Carcieri's request for a disaster declaration.
"In the months since the fire, it has become overwhelmingly clear that this devastating fire placed an almost unbearable financial burden on state and local emergency responders and governments," Reed said.
"The technical and manpower assistance provided by the federal government from the early hours of the disaster was greatly appreciated, but [it] was not enough to alleviate the tremendous financial burden placed on the state and local agencies."
Republican Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee pledged yesterday to work with Reed to get money for the fire by attaching an amendment to some other bill, he said though spokeswoman Debbie Rich.
U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin said he finds it "an insult that this tragic loss of life and widespread injury has been brushed aside by the administration." He vowed that the Rhode Island congressional delegation will not give up its quest for federal aid.
"Apparently, the administration categorizes two feet of snow as far more important than the loss of 99 lives," said Langevin. The administration "is willing to recognize snow as a disaster, not but the tragic loss of life and widespread injury . . . There's something fundamentally wrong with that."
He also accused the Bush administration of being "preoccupied with pushing tax cuts" while ignoring Rhode Island's needs for disaster aid.
"We're going to continue to work the appropriations process to obtain what I believe is much needed assistance for Rhode Island," he said. "The administration may have given up on Rhode Island, but this delegation will not."
