PROVIDENCE — Lawyers for the victims of the Station nightclub fire and the parties they have sued are still trying to hammer out the wording of a release form the plaintiffs will have to sign to receive money from a $176-million settlement fund that all of the defendants have agreed to contribute to. But it appears that it will still be several months before the victims receive any money.

At a status conference Tuesday morning, lawyers for the victims and the defendants told U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin that they are making good progress.

But neither of the lawyers who addressed the court — Mark Mandell, on behalf of the victims, and James Ruggieri, representing the defendants — asked the court to approve anything, saying there are still things that need to be ironed out.

Mandell told Martin that the release form currently being negotiated is 28 pages long.

More than 300 people who suffered injuries or lost loved ones in the fire have sued for money damages. The fire, on Feb. 20, 2003, killed 100 people. It started when the rock band Great White set off pyrotechnics that ignited highly flammable polyurethane foam that the owners of the club, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, installed as soundproofing.

Under a proposed plan of distribution submitted by court-appointed special master Francis E. McGovern, a Duke University law school professor, the survivors who were most badly burned and were hospitalized the longest will receive more money than several families who lost loved ones in the fire. A minor child could end up receiving more than a surviving spouse.

To receive money, the victims will have to submit claim forms through their lawyers, with the required documentation, to a neutral verification expert who will check to make sure each completed form is accurate. The court has yet to approve the distribution plan.

Martin scheduled another status conference for 10 a.m. on March 3.

tbreton@projo.com