Digital Extra: The Station Fire

One charge is that the Derderians knowingly hung a second layer of flammable soundproofing material in their nightclub.

01:10 AM EST on Saturday, February 19, 2005

BY TRACY BRETON
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- State prosecutors assert that in an attempt to dampen noise inside The Station nightclub, the owners installed wood-fiber material that "contained a visible and explicit warning about flammability," some of it as backing for the highly flammable polyurethane foam on the ceiling of the club.

The revelation that Jeffrey A. and Michael A. Derderian allegedly "purchased and improperly installed and/or caused to be installed" a second flammable substance in their nightclub was contained in newly filed court papers submitted by prosecutors. The new court filing is a response to the defendants' request for particularized information on the state's involuntary-manslaughter case.

The Derderians and Daniel M. Biechele -- the former tour manager for the rock band Great White who ignited the pyrotechnics inside The Station that set the foam ablaze -- each face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of 100 people at a concert the night of Feb. 20, 2003. All three men have pleaded not guilty.

The defendants stand indicted under two theories of involuntary manslaughter: misdemeanor manslaughter and criminal negligence.

In the case of the Derderians, the alleged underlying misdemeanor is a violation of a state fire-code regulation that required them to use flame-resistant acoustic material in their nightclub. In the case of Biechele, the underlying misdemeanor is setting off pyrotechnics at The Station without the required permit.

In laying out its case against the Derderians, prosecutors contend in the new public filing that three years before the fire at the nightclub -- sometime between March 1 and July 1, 2000 -- the brothers purchased and installed a material identified as Celotex SoundStop "on portions of the interior of the building, including, but not limited to, portions of the ceiling, although it contained a visible and explicit warning about flammability."

"In some places," the court papers say, the Derderians installed polyurethane egg-crate-shaped foam "directly over" the Celotex.

This allegation startled some of the lawyers representing victims of the fire, as well as lawyers representing parties being sued in federal court.

Lawyers for many of the victims, as well as those representing some of the parties they are suing in U.S. District Court, came to the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. yesterday morning, as the judge met in chambers with prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers. As they pored over the new papers filed by prosecutors in the criminal case, they said they had never been told by the state that investigators had discovered Celotex SoundStop inside The Station. By the time their own investigators began culling evidence from the charred ruins of the club, investigators for the attorney general's office had removed all of the Celotex, they said.

A WEB SITE set up by its manufacturer -- Knight Industries of Northfield, Ill. -- says Celotex SoundStop is "fiberboard made of 97 percent organic materials including recovered hardwood or sugar cane fibers." It is sold locally in various locations including Providence, East Providence and Fall River.

Prosecutors are basing their case against the Derderians in large part on the flammable acoustic material found inside the nightclub after the fire -- material which the prosecutors say flunked tests conducted by experts who were hired to determine whether it complied with state fire-code regulations.

But the prosecutors say they are basing the manslaughter charges on other factors as well, including the following:

Jeffrey Derderian, a former television reporter, had done a series about the dangers of polyurethane foam for a Boston station and should have known that the foam inside his nightclub was a safety hazard.

The Derderians issued a directive before the night of the fire that the door on the west wall of their club, adjacent to the stage, be kept closed at all times and used only by band members and their staff. Some survivors said they were not allowed to go out that door after the fire erupted.

After installing the soundproofing foam at The Station, the Derderians allowed various music groups "to use special effects in their acts, including pyrotechnics, open flames, flash pots and [spark generators] . . . in plain view and in close proximity to the highly flammable foam."

The brothers took no steps to ensure that the bands that set off fireworks inside the club complied with national or state fire-safety codes, and they allowed people in the club to smoke near the highly flammable foam.

The Derderians "repeatedly and intentionally disregarded the maximum capacity of 404 persons that the West Warwick Fire Marshal prescribed for The Station."

The Derderians "repeatedly installed and maintained an inward-swinging door without any hardware, including the necessary 'panic' or 'crash' hardware, in front of an exit door on the west wall of The Station," in violation of the state fire code, even after the Town of West Warwick twice cited the club for violations because of the door.

The Derderians did not provide any emergency training for their employees, did not have an evacuation or emergency plan, and never provided training to the employees on how to use fire extinguishers.

Exit signs in The Station were not illuminated.

The nightclub did not have any marked fire lane, and the parking stripes were in need of painting. The night of the fire, prosecutors allege, an employee of The Station told agents for Great White to park the band's bus "in close proximity to the front of the building and a series of atrium-style windows, thereby obstructing access to that portion of the building."

Sometime before the fire, the Derderians had the atrium-style windows on the front of the nightclub painted black, "which prevented outside light from illuminating the interior of the club and hampered patrons' and employees' ability to locate" exits.

In the newly released filings, prosecutors also lay out their case against Biechele, whom they say "arranged for, planned, procured materials for, and executed displays of pyrotechnic special effects to accompany Great White's musical performances at select venues on the tour."

"In doing so at The Station," prosecutors contend, Biechele's "conduct constituted such a departure from the standard of care that an ordinarily prudent and reasonable person would exercise under the same or similar circumstances that it was criminally negligent."

The state alleges that this conduct included the following:

Biechele was not a licensed pyrotechnician and had not received any training on how to use pyrotechnics.

He failed to heed advice on pyrotechnic use that he had previously received from a licensed pyrotechnician, Randy Bast.

The night of the Station fire, Biechele failed to follow procedures and practices that he had previously used in setting off pyrotechnics when he served as tour manager for another band, WASP.

He "improperly purchased" the fireworks he set off at The Station and failed to notify any public officials about his intent to set off pyrotechnics the night of the fire.

Biechele failed to obtain the required permit to set off fireworks at The Station and did not procure the required certificate of competency mandated by state law.

He failed to develop "a stage plan" or hold a practice session at which the proposed fireworks display could be tested or approved by local authorities "prior to its execution on Feb. 20, 2003."

Biechele failed to exercise due care to make sure that sparks from the pyrotechnics would not ignite the soundproofing foam, near where he set them off.

Prosecutors also fault Biechele for the type of device he used to hold and display the fireworks he ignited, and for his failure to ensure that adequate fire extinguishers were in the immediate area of the stage. They also contend that in addition to the fireworks he set off the night of the fire, Biechele brought additional fireworks inside the nightclub for storage during the Feb. 20 concert.

The criminal trial for the three men is at least a year away.

Yesterday, prosecutors agreed to give lawyers for the Derderians a small piece of the soundproofing foam that they seized from the nightclub after the fire.

In addition, a small piece of foam will be given to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for chemical compound testing, at the request of Biechele's lawyer.

Prosecutors say in court papers that while their experts have already done testing on the foam, they want more tests on 4 square feet of foam in the state's possession, citing "a substantial and compelling need" to do so.

"It is clear that, in attempting to meet its high burden of proof, the state cannot leave any element of proof subject to chance," prosecutors say in court papers.

Darigan is scheduled to meet with the criminal lawyers again on March 4.

Digital Extra: Look back at the Station fire and its aftermath, view profiles of victims, post remembrances in an online guest book and more, at:

http://www.projo.com/wwfire