WARWICK -- More than 250 taped police calls and two fire department reports from the night of The Station nightclub fire are expected to become available to the public today under a court order in a Providence Journal public-records suit.
The Journal had sought the records from the Town of West Warwick, and sued after the town refused to provide them. In declining to provide the material, the town had cited the attorney general's pending criminal investigation into the Feb. 20 fire that killed 100 people.
Timothy Williamson, a state representative and a lawyer who represents the town, argued yesterday against releasing the material. He told Kent County Superior Court Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer that the town is a defendant in several civil lawsuits stemming from the fire, and contended that publicity from the release of the material could make it more difficult for the town to get a fair trial.
Pfeiffer ruled yesterday that the material was presumed to be open under the Public Records Act, and that it was up to Atty. Gen. Patrick C. Lynch's office to provide evidence that the material should be kept secret.
Lacking any evidence, "I think it is appropriate that The Providence Journal obtain this information," Pfeiffer said.
Lynch's office has been investigating the nightclub disaster for months to determine whether criminal charges should be filed. The fire started when a rock band's unlicensed pyrotechnics ignited flammable packing foam installed in the club as soundproofing.
The material to be released today includes:
269 audio tracks of police communications recorded the night of the fire, and 8 edited police audio calls, from which personal information has been deleted, such as the names of victims and the home and cellular telephone numbers of police officers.
The calls represent 3.5 hours of emergency communication dispatches, recorded between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Feb. 20 and 21, according to Lynch.
The tapes include conversations between West Warwick police and emergency personnel responding to the fire, calls by off-duty officers reporting to duty and inquiries from reporters on the night of the fire. The tapes will not include 911 emergency calls, which Lynch says are not public record.
A six-page Fire Department incident report.
An eight-page Fire Department document listing people killed and hurt in the disaster.
Lynch's office will make the material available at 9 a.m. under a consent order approved yesterday by Judge Pfeiffer.
The records to be released under the agreement cover only a portion of an ongoing public-records dispute.
Lynch has concluded that releasing the material contained in the agreement would not hinder the ongoing criminal investigation into the fire -- a possible reason under the law to keep the material secret.
The attorney general deferred to Pfeiffer to determine whether there was any other reason to withhold the material, such as the possibility that disclosure would make it more difficult for anyone charged with a crime to get a fair trial.
"I have stated from the start that to the degree this office could cooperate with public-records requests pertaining to The Station fire, it would," Lynch said in a statement.
"Since July, my office has not objected to what we will make available [today]. This evidences our good-faith efforts to cooperate with legitimate media requests without jeopardizing or hindering our investigation into The Station fire."
Joel P. Rawson, the Journal's senior vice president and executive editor, called the release of the material, "a significant step in making public the events of The Station nightclub fire.
"We believe what happened that tragic night must be given a full and timely public airing," Rawson said in a statement. "Far too much of the government record is still being held in secret. We will continue to use all of our resources to pursue information that is of pressing public interest."
Journal lawyer Joseph V. Cavanagh Jr. said yesterday that he expects to file within a week a motion for access to additional records, including 91 tracks of police recordings withheld by the attorney general's office.
Lynch is keeping those calls secret due to concerns over unwarranted invasions of privacy, and because some calls "get too close to what our team is investigating," said Lynch spokesman Mike Healy.
The Journal is also seeking:
Police incident reports on the fire.
Additional Fire Department incident reports.
Fire Department dispatch records.
Records that specify where in The Station wreckage each body was recovered.
A list of Station fire survivors prepared by Governori Carcieri's office.
Lynch stated: "Ensuring the integrity of the investigation is the yardstick by which we've measured and will continue to measure inquiries for information."
