Digital Extra: The Station Fire

Outside Attorney General Patrick Lynch's office, a small group demands that West Warwick officials be held accountable.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 14, 2004

BY MICHAEL CORKERY
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Eileen DiBonaventura cannot accept it.

Not when her son is gone and the West Warwick fire and building inspectors, who missed the flammable foam coating the inside of the Station nightclub, have not been charged.

DiBonaventura, whose 18-year-old son Albert died in the fire, stood outside Attorney General Patrick Lynch's office yesterday, demanding that town officials be held accountable.

"We don't feel like anyone should be held above the law," said DiBonaventura. "That the inspectors are working right now leads me to believe that gross negligence has been condoned. How can that be? Where is the justice?"

DiBonaventura and her husband, Albert, of North Dighton, Mass., were joined on South Main Street yesterday by two other people who lost loved ones in the fire.

A total of five protesters gathered on the sidewalk, including Dave Kane, whose son died in the fire. A talk-show host and comedian, Kane plans to run against Lynch in 2006.

They called for Lynch to convene another grand jury or for the U.S. Attorney to open a federal case against the West Warwick officials.

The small group held up signs and spoke to television, radio and newspaper reporters, who outnumbered them. Lynch did not come out of his office to speak with them, but later issued a statement saying that he had offered to meet with the protesters, but they declined.

"We have sworn under oath that, when we must, we shall present cases to grand juries according to the dictates of applicable facts, the evidence that was gathered, and the Rhode Island General Laws," Lynch said in a statement.

Fire Inspector Denis P. Larocque and West Warwick Building Inspector Stephen D. Murray inspected The Station several times after the foam was glued to the wall in 2000 as soundproofing. Neither man noted the foam on their inspection reports.

Legal experts say public officials are not immune from prosecution. But in order to press criminal charges against them, prosecutors would have to show that inspectors knew the foam was there and knew that it was so flammable that death or serious injury would result by leaving it up.

"What about our loved ones," asked Tammy Ayer, who helped organize yesterday's event. "They don't have rights."

Ayer lost her twin sister, Tina, in the fire. She suspects that Lynch is protecting the West Warwick officials, but cannot prove it.

Ayer handed out a flier that reads: "We need your feedback. Families, survivors, friends and all American people. Who do you think is responsible for a hundred deaths and hundreds injured? Your decision means more than you think." She included her e-mail address at the bottom (tammyayer [at] cox.net).

The protesters hoped more people would turn out yesterday. But some families told them the issue is still too painful. Ayer said there was no special significance to the date of yesterday's protest. She simply felt it was time to speak out.

Most people walked past the attorney general's office without stopping. A man driving by yelled an obscenity at the reporters.

Albert DiBonaventura held up a sign with a piece of black foam attached to it and the message: "Why? Deadly Foam Ignored by Inspectors." Ayer said she plans to organize a regular protest.

"This isn't going to go away," said Eileen DiBonaventura. "Our son is not going to come home and neither are 99 others."