Digital Extra: The Station Fire

Several amendments are expected to the code, intended to make the Ocean State the "safest in the nation."

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, February 20, 2005

BY MARK ARSENAULT
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Two years after the deadliest fire on Rhode Island soil killed 100 rock 'n' roll fans in an aging wooden roadhouse in West Warwick, state officials are still searching for the best ways to make sure such a disaster never happens here again.

After The Station nightclub burned down on Feb. 20, 2003, the state legislature convened a commission to study Rhode Island's fire laws and write a new code, which the General Assembly passed within five months.

Last year, lawmakers tweaked the code, redefining a "nightclub" under the law and giving the Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review more authority over deadlines for installing sprinklers.

A number of legislators say the code is still not right. More amendments are expected this year, possibly affecting the way the law governs buildings such as schools and churches, bed-and-breakfast inns and club halls.

How far the changes will go is uncertain.

It is also uncertain who will enforce the code.

The state fire marshal is responsible for training inspectors and enforcing the fire laws.

Fire Marshal Irving J. Owens' five-year term expired last summer. By law, he can remain on the job until Governor Carcieri reappoints him, or until the governor appoints someone else.

Carcieri has ordered a nationwide search for applicants to compete for the marshal's job at an increased salary -- advertised in publications and on the Web -- of $88,668 to $99,471 per year. Owens' current pay after 10 years in the job is budgeted at $73,517.

"The governor believes it is important to attract the highest quality candidates," Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said. "To do that, the state needs to offer a competitive salary."

Three people have applied so far, Neal said last week, including Owens, who wants to keep the job. The state will take applications throughout this month, and state officials expect that more people will apply.

The Department of Administration will be enlisting a panel to evaluate the applications and to recommend a candidate to Carcieri.

The Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs backed Owens for the position in a letter to the governor last June. In a meeting with Carcieri about two weeks ago, leaders of the association did not endorse any one candidate, but urged the governor to pick a Rhode Islander, said Frank Sylvester, chief of the Lime Rock Fire District and legislative chairman for the chiefs' association.

"We would say that someone local is more qualified because we know what the problems are," he said. "Someone from out-of-state wouldn't know our codes.

"I expect there will be local people interested," he said. "That's a nice jump in pay -- it makes it interesting."

AFTER THE Station fire in 2003, a legislative commission -- co-chaired by Rep. Peter Ginaitt, D-Warwick, and former state Sen. John Celona -- took testimony from experts in the fire services, from building officials and from survivors of The Station disaster. The commission rewrote the state's fire code, with the much publicized goal of making Rhode Island "the safest state in the nation."

The state adopted national standards from the National Fire Protection Association as law, and added Rhode Island-specific amendments, including mandatory sprinkler requirements for nightclubs and other places of public assembly.

The first sprinkler deadline is just over four months away -- nightclubs with maximum occupancies of more than 300 patrons must install sprinklers by July 1. Smaller clubs, from 150 to 300 patrons, have an extra year to comply.

As of Feb. 10, 80 nightclubs in Rhode Island needed to install sprinklers under the code, according to data from the fire marshal's office. Of those 80 clubs, 49 must also install fire alarms that automatically contact a fire department in emergencies. Twelve clubs that already meet the sprinkler requirement must install the alarms.

"I think many people will not be ready when the deadlines come," said state Sen. Joseph Polisena, D-Johnston, a former firefighter who was part of the commission that drafted the new laws. "We could have done things differently with the way we set the laws into motion."

If time runs out, "people are just not going to comply," he said. "They're going to go out of business, or break the law. There are ways to give people more time and maintain public safety. They can have a firefighter on duty. He or she would inspect the facility before a show, making sure the exits are clear."

The new codes have been a "major, major problem with things like church halls, the VFWs and the Grange halls," Polisena said.

Several bills to amend the fire laws are already pending:

To define a "barn" in the law, and exempt them from sprinkler and alarm requirements;

To exempt classrooms from restrictions on the amount of paper that may be displayed on walls;

And to allow public water customers to tie sprinkler systems into existing water pipes.

The Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review has given bed-and-breakfast inns more time to comply with the new codes, with the understanding that the legislature is expected to review the way the codes affect B & Bs, and possibly make changes, said Tom Coffey, the board's director. The 2003 codes have tougher rules for the very small B & Bs, which old codes treated no differently than private homes. "By giving the time variance, the smaller B & Bs don't need to install sophisticated alarm systems," he said.

State Rep. Joseph Trillo, R-Warwick, said he believes the legislature may form another commission, "to revisit the problem areas" of the fire code, such as the deadlines and some requirements on schools.

Greg Pare, spokesman for state Senate leadership, said a number of senators heard complaints during the last campaign from constituents concerned about the reach of the fire code over schools, churches, B & Bs and Grange halls.

"We anticipate we'll be addressing many of those situations regarding the fire laws," he said. The leadership has not yet decided whether the fire code should be reviewed by a special commission, or through the normal legislative committee process, he said.

Larry Berman, spokesman for House Speaker William Murphy, said that Murphy does not favor another commission. Proposed changes to the fire law probably will be addressed through legislative committees, he said.

There has been progress in fire safety this past year:

The fire marshal's office, which had 21 authorized positions but only 14 people working at the time of the fire, has grown to 32 people. Governor Carcieri has proposed adding six additional inspectors next year, at a cost of about $250,000.

The marshal's office has begun nighttime inspections of places of public assembly, when the venues have their peak crowds. Carcieri has proposed $58,000 in his next budget toward the cost of night inspections.

Coffey said it appears that many clubs are working to comply with the sprinkler law and are having systems installed.

Rhode Island is still waiting for one key element of the 2003 law to begin -- the new code gave fire inspectors the authority to write tickets, similar to traffic tickets, for fire code violations.

The ticketing system is not yet working.

Owens said in December 2003 that he hoped to have the ticketing system ready for the first anniversary of The Station fire, one year ago. Last September, he said he hoped to have the system working by the beginning of last November.

Carcieri's spokesman, Neal, said last week that the marshal's staff was clearing up final details on the ticketing system with the attorney general's office. "It is my understanding that the fire marshal's office is nearly ready to begin the ticketing process," he said.