Digital Extra: The Station Fire

Rep. Joseph A. Trillo wants to ease the burden on property owners without weakening the law that was drafted in response to the Station fire.

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, April 3, 2004

BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writer

WARWICK -- The Westgate Condominiums complex sits about a mile from the site of the Station fire, so residents are familiar with the horror of the 100 deaths.

But now, more than a year after the deadliest fire in Rhode Island history, they are alarmed by the cost of complying with the new fire code enacted in response to the tragedy.

As traffic whizzed past on Route 2 yesterday, condo association leaders tallied the expected cost of installing sprinklers, new smoke alarm horns, new wiring and a new pump house. The bill could total $500,000, they predicted, saying that would place a big financial burden on the many retirees living in the 114-unit complex.

Vice President Raymond Goldschmidt, 82, contemplated how he'd pay an extra $3,000 in condo fees, saying, "I'd have to cut down on food, use of the car, or whatever. I've never even given that serious thought because it horrifies me."

On Monday, a newly formed House commission will begin reviewing the impact that the new fire code is having on property owners and building managers at places such as Westgate Condominiums.

The commission is being led by Rep. Joseph A. Trillo, R-Warwick, who spoke up for property owners when he was on the joint House and Senate panel that came up with the new code. Trillo warned about the impact of eliminating the "grandfather clause" that had shielded many older buildings from the modern fire code.

In launching the new commission, Trillo said, "We want to ensure that buildings in Rhode Island, especially places of assembly such as nightclubs, are safe. But we also want to make sure the law that was enacted in response to the Station fire is not imposing undue, excessive or outrageously costly requirements."

Fire-safety advocates, meanwhile, are emphasizing the need to remain focused on safety goals now that the costs of improvements are becoming clear.

"This is the time everyone needs to redouble their efforts," said R. Wayne Powell, chief of citizen and community preparedness for the U.S. Fire Administration in Emmitsburg, Md. "The further you get away from that great tragedy, the less we tend to focus on it -- it's out of sight, out of mind. But if something was unacceptable the day after the fire, it's just as unacceptable today."

Sen. Joseph M. Polisena, D-Johnston, who served on the joint fire-safety commission with Trillo, said he thinks Trillo is making a mistake by "doing his own thing" rather than reactivating the joint House and Senate commission that came up with the code changes.

Polisena, a former firefighter, said, "I don't know if this is agenda driven or what he's trying to do." The General Assembly might need to "tweak" the new fire code, but "as long as I have a pulse, we will not water down that law," he said.

Trillo, an alarm company owner, said he is not trying to undo the landmark legislation. "I think it's a good piece of legislation -- it just needs to be observed," he said. "The purpose is to make sure we are not out there needlessly destroying businesses. We cannot ease off the pressure on the problem we originally set out to correct -- nightclubs."

The new panel -- called the House Oversight Commission to Study the Ramifications of the Fire Safety Code -- was created by legislation that Trillo introduced Feb. 26. The full House voted on the bill the same day it was proposed.

Trillo said the commission "will be soliciting and listening to testimony from property owners and building managers to determine whether any recommendations should be offered to the General Assembly to amend the law without weakening its primary goal of keeping Rhode Islanders safe."

Trillo said he contacted the Senate leadership about the possibility of a joint House and Senate commission but received no reply.

Senate spokesman Greg Pare said reconvening the joint fire safety commission is an option, but nothing has been decided. "There is a sense the fire laws might need to be tweaked in terms of time frames," he said.

AT WESTGATE Condominiums, about 50 people have signed a petition asking that the complex be given more time to comply with the new requirements. "This law should take effect over five years," association President Nicholas DiPompo said. "Now we only have one year to do it."

DiPompo said the state should focus first on nightclubs and bars like The Station. "They are in business to make money -- we are here to live," he said. "How did we get into this law? We've been here since 1976 without any fire violations."

The condo complex does take precautions. In the clubhouse yesterday, a fire extinguisher hung on one wall beneath a fire alarm horn. On another wall hung a sign announcing the maximum capacity. DiPompo said he crossed out the number 50 and made the maximum capacity 49 because, otherwise, sprinklers would be required for public assemblies lasting more than one hour.

"We won't put in sprinklers" in the clubhouse, DiPompo said. "We'd rather have it empty."

DiPompo acknowledged the state would never allow the condo complex to be built the same way today. Different alarms and different building materials would be required, along with fire sprinklers, he said. But they're not new buildings, he noted, saying that while "it costs nothing to do when the building is new" the cost of retrofitting is "outrageous."

DiPompo, a former housing inspector in Boston, said the new law is complex, with 56 pages of definitions and 123 pages of rules. "Why haven't fire marshals let the public know what this law covers?" he asked.

Another member of the new commission, Rep. Peter T. Ginaitt, D-Warwick, said he is hearing that local inspectors are interpreting the new law differently. "They truly need guidance from above -- hopefully from the state fire marshal's office," he said.

Ginaitt, a Warwick Fire Department rescue captain who responded to the Station fire, said he had wanted the new fire code to kick in July 1 to allow for a "learning curve" rather than on Feb. 20, which marked the first anniversary of the fire.

The new commission is set to meet for the first time from noon to 3 p.m. Monday in State House Room 135. Trillo said he has invited testimony from State Fire Marshal Irving J. Owens and leaders of the state Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review.