Digital Extra: The Station Fire

In its final report, the National Institute of Standards and Technology reorders its priorites in the wake of lessons learned from the deadly West Warwick blaze.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 30, 2005

BY PAUL EDWARD PARKER
Journal Staff Writer

The key to preventing tragedies such as the Station nightclub fire is to aggressively enforce existing fire and building codes, according to the federal agency that investigated the blaze.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology yesterday issued its final report on the 2003 fire that killed 100 and injured more than 200 others at the West Warwick nightclub. The fire began shortly after rock band Great White took the stage, when fireworks that were part of the show ignited flammable polyurethane packing foam that had been glued to the walls as soundproofing.

NIST recommended that communities nationwide adopt model codes, such as the fire code developed by the National Fire Protection Association, and enforce them strictly.

A preliminary NIST report, released in March, did not focus as much on enforcement issues. Instead, it pushed a wide variety of changes to the model codes. But, NIST rethought its priorities.

"What good does it do to clamp down on a code if it really is an enforcement issue?" said lead investigator William Grosshandler.

In yesterday's final report, adopting and enforcing the model codes is the top recommendation.

"The first one is the key. That's why we moved it up front," said Grosshandler. "It was not explicit in our draft report. It needed to be emphasized."

The report still suggests code changes among its 10 recommendations, but as secondary priorities.

Although NIST found several areas where the model fire and building codes should be improved, Grosshandler said they were not bad at the time of the Station fire. "The 2003 version of the codes were in very good shape." Even without changes, "they will be able to prevent a tragedy such as this."

Grosshandler would not go as far as blaming West Warwick Fire Marshal Denis P. Larocque or state Fire Marshal Irving J. Owens for bungling enforcement of fire codes at the Station nightclub. Larocque inspected the Station several times before the fire, but did not require removal of the polyurethane foam from the walls. Owens is responsible for training local fire marshals statewide.

Grosshandler only said that adherence to the model code as it existed in 2003 would prevent similar tragedies in the future.

The preliminary report listed 12 recommendations, which have been reorganized into 10, which cover the same basic topics.

Among the 10 recommendations in the report are ones dealing with fire sprinklers in nightclubs, flammable foam as a wall coverings, the use of indoor fireworks and how emergency exits are evaluated.

The preliminary report recommended that sprinklers be required in all nightclubs, regardless of size. The final report changes that to all new nightclubs regardless of size and existing nightclubs with capacities of more than 100.

Grosshandler said the change was to bring the federal recommendations in line with model code revisions made by the National Fire Protection Association. "We want to strongly endorse the action NFPA took."

In the wake of the fire, Rhode Island required sprinklers in all nightclubs with capacities of more than 150 and all other places of public assembly with capacities of more than 300.

Grosshandler said NIST officials hope the state will lower the cutoff for nightclubs to 100.

NIST also recommends that polyurethane foam and materials that burn as well or better be banned from use as a covering for walls and other surfaces in buildings. The agency also recommends that such materials be clearly marked so contractors, building owners and inspectors will know if a prohibited material is being used.

The report suggests changes to model codes that would ban the use of fireworks inside nightclubs that do not have sprinklers and would tighten restrictions on their use in nightclubs that have sprinklers.

The report also urges changes in how building capacities are calculated. Currently, the formula is a mix of the square footage of floor space and the number and size of exits. NIST recommends, instead, the capacity be linked to how many people can get out of a building within a certain amount of time. For a nightclub such as The Station, that would be 90 seconds. It also recommends that buildings have enough exits to safely evacuate, even if the most-used exit becomes unavailable.

In The Station, two of the exits were unavailable for at least part of the time.

In the early moments of the fire, a bouncer turned some patrons away from an exit next to the stage, saying it was reserved for the band. Soon afterward, that exit became engulfed in flames as the fire spread along the wall behind the stage.

Also, the main front entrance became clogged with a pile of people who stumbled in the doorway.