Digital Extra: The Station Fire

The casino giant has notified lawmakers that it wants "relief" from having to pay for detail firefighters at its proposed West Warwick casino.

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 17, 2004

BY ZACHARY R. MIDER
Journal Staff Writer

Harrah's Entertainment wants an exemption from the state fire code for its proposed West Warwick casino, according to a document the company distributed last month to members of the House of Representatives.

State law requires a uniformed firefighter on duty at any place of assembly where more than 1,000 people are gathered. On June 25, Harrah's gave legislators a document indicating the company will seek "relief" from that part of the fire code through an agreement with the town.

Harrah's wants to explore how other large venues around the state, such as Lincoln Park, handle crowds, and then "craft something that's both absolutely right for the city, and also makes sense," Jan L. Jones, Harrah's senior vice president, said this week.

"After the tragic fire, I understand how the city wants to make sure that safety is paramount in all of their practices," she said, referring to the fire that killed 100 people last year at The Station nightclub, less than two miles from the proposed casino location. But she said the company also wants the casino to be as "efficient" as possible.

In a phone interview, Jones said she wasn't aware that Lincoln Park, the state's largest video-slot parlor, complies with the law by posting at least one firefighter, and sometimes as many as eight, whenever it is open for business. The firefighters cost the dog track as much as $300,000 a year.

"It is our intent as a company, that whatever needs to be incorporated into the facility to maintain the highest standards of quality and safety, that will be done," Jones said.

"Our feeling on that is, we're going to work with the Town of West Warwick. We want to comply with any rules and regulations they have."

A VARIANCE from the fire code can be granted only by the state Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review, although the board often considers the recommendation of the local fire department.

Jeanne-Marie DiMasi, West Warwick's Town Council president, said she is opposed to any fire-code variance for the casino. "It hasn't been negotiated, but I can't imagine us wavering on that," she said.

Lincoln Park has at least one firefighter from the local Lime Rock Fire District on duty whenever it is open for business, from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. each day, said spokesman Michael F. Trainor.

"Frankly, I'm surprised that Harrah's would want a variance for something that's so important for life safety, particularly in the wake of the Station fire," Trainor said. "We certainly don't think it would be fair."

Frank M. Sylvester, chief of the fire district, said his firefighters work about 100 shifts a month at the dog track. They are responsible for keeping aisles clear and making sure that crowds could exit quickly in an emergency, he said. Some of the firefighters are also EMTs able to handle medical problems.

Because Lincoln Park requires so many shifts, Sylvester said, the fire district negotiated a special contract that charges the dog track $22.75 an hour, about the regular hourly pay of a firefighter with the rank of private. Some fire departments charge time and a half, or more, for detail assignments, he said.

Sylvester, a member of the special commission that drafted new fire regulations in response to the Station fire last year, said he would oppose giving a variance to Harrah's.

"We're supposedly the safest state in the nation, and they want to come in and diminish the fire protection?" he said. "No way."

The new fire code imposes hardships on a wide range of businesses throughout the state, including small ones that lack Harrah's clout, said Dale J. Venturini, president of the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association, a casino opponent. "My people are struggling to keep up with what has to be done," said Venturini, who was also a member of the legislative commission. "When some outsider comes in and wants an exception, I'm just floored by it."

THE PROVISION requiring firefighters in venues with more than 1,000 people is a longstanding part of the state fire code. During this year's legislative session, it was revised to give local fire departments more discretion.

Before the revision, the law required that any place of assembly that could handle more than 1,000 people post a firefighter, even if fewer than 1,000 people were present for a particular event. A fire chief could ask for more firefighters if he thought it necessary.

That became a problem for large venues such as the Hoyts Cinema at Providence Place mall, said William F. Howe, the chief of inspections at the state fire marshal's office. Although the theater can seat more than 5,000 people, it has far fewer customers on off nights.

In 2000, the cinema asked for a variance from the state fire code, arguing that keeping firefighters on duty at all times is unnecessary and creates a financial hardship. But the state appeals board rejected the application, saying that Hoyts had not supplied enough information on how attendance fluctuated from day to day.

The next year, Hoyts provided statistics on its attendance rates, and the board concluded that a firefighter was necessary only on busy nights. It allowed Hoyts to forgo a firefighter on certain nights, as long as attendance stayed far below 1,000. (National Amusements bought the theater from Hoyts late last December.)

This year, the General Assembly revised the law to allow a local fire chief to waive the firefighter requirement in large venues "on an event-by-event basis" if actual attendance is "substantially lower" than 1,000.

Jones, the Harrah's executive, said that in Las Vegas, where her company is headquartered, casinos rely on a host of fire-safety measures, including sprinklers, exits and training for security officials. But she said she doesn't believe private-detail firefighters are used there. "I'm not sure there's a safer place to be," she said.

In West Warwick, she added, "whatever the state and city think we need to ensure the safety of our guests, we will comply."

We're supposedly the safest state in the nation, and they want to come in and diminish the fire protection? No way. FRANK M. SYLVESTER,

chief, Lime Rock Fire District