01:00 AM EST on Saturday, November 29, 2003

PROVIDENCE -- The Providence Journal yesterday filed a motion for summary judgment in a public records dispute over material related to The Station nightclub fire, said Journal lawyer Joseph V. Cavanagh Jr.

The motion, filed in Kent County Superior Court, seeks records related to the Feb. 20 fire in West Warwick that killed 100 people. The newspaper orginally sought the records from the Town of West Warwick and from Governor Carcieri and filed suit after the requests were denied.

The newspaper is seeking:

Police incident reports on the fire.

Fire Department incident reports.

Police and Fire Department dispatch records.

Records that specify where each body was recovered.

A list of survivors, prepared by Governor Carcieri's office.

Under a consent order approved by the court this month, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office released recordings of more than 250 taped police calls and two Fire Department reports from the night of the fire. Lynch said the release of those records would neither interfere with the investigation nor constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

An additional 91 police calls remain in dispute.

Lynch's office has been investigating the nightclub disaster for nine months to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.