PROVIDENCE — Documents made public yesterday offer an answer to a question that has haunted Rhode Islanders in the three years since fire consumed The Station nightclub and killed 100 people:

How did town Fire Marshal Denis P. Larocque not see that the walls of the West Warwick nightclub had been covered in highly flammable polyurethane foam that would kindle the fire in February 2003 and help it race through the crowded building?

In an interview days after the fire, Larocque told investigators from the state police and the state fire marshal’s office that he had been blinded by anger during an inspection three months before the fire.

Larocque said that he had just finished inspecting one part of the building when he noticed a door next to the nightclub’s stage. A year earlier, Larocque had ordered the door removed – and later confirmed that it had been – because it opened into the building in violation of the state fire code.

But, in November 2002, it was back.

“My focus on that point was the door, which I went over and checked the door at the end of the inspection,” Larocque said, according to a transcript of his interview. “I really got upset that someone would reinstall something that we had already cited them for.”

Larocque went and examined the door.

“My next stop was right back to the front of — well, to the bar to speak to the bartender about who reinstalled that door.”

Larocque’s statement was among more than 3,000 pages released yesterday by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch in response to a public records request from The Providence Journal and other news outlets for all of the evidence collected as part of the investigation into the fire. Lynch also had promised relatives of the people who died that he would let the public see the evidence. He told relatives that he hoped the material would help answer lingering questions about the fire.

“The attorney general made a pledge to make as much of the evidence and other information about the Station fire available as quickly as possible. Today’s release really represents just a down payment,” Lynch spokesman Michael J. Healey said yesterday. “We’re putting the documents out there for public consumption. We’re not offering our interpretation of their relative importance or lack thereof. People are going to have to make up their own minds. We would respectfully urge people to wait until everything that can be made public is made public before forming their opinions.”

The information released yesterday falls into two categories: 802 pages of official documents from the Town of West Warwick and 2,242 pages of documents seized from the Narragansett home of Michael A. Derderian, one of the nightclub’s co-owners. The documents range from hand-scrawled notes to performance contracts with bands. The documents were released as electronic images on a computer disk called a CD-ROM. The disks are available to the general public, at no charge, by calling the attorney general’s office at (401) 274-4400, ext. 2328.

The next installment of evidence is expected next week or the week after. It will consist largely of videos of bands that had played at The Station and amateur footage shot the night of the fire. The videos would fill 50 to 60 DVDs. The attorney general has not determined how they will be distributed to the general public.

Although the state police had asked Larocque whether he had seen the polyurethane foam during his November 2002 inspection, they did not press him on the matter or ask about other times he had inspected the premises in the three years the nightclub was owned by brothers Michael and Jeffrey A. Derderian. The state police witness statement was included in the documents from West Warwick. It was unclear yesterday whether future evidence from the attorney general will include other witness statements from Larocque.

Larocque also testified before the grand jury that investigated the fire. Lynch has petitioned the Superior Court to allow the public to see the transcripts of secret grand jury testimony. A closed hearing on the petition is scheduled for Dec. 13.

In December 2003, the grand jury approved involuntary manslaughter charges against the Derderian brothers and Daniel M. Biechele, the band manager who triggered fireworks that ignited the polyurethane foam surrounding the stage. The foam had been installed as soundproofing after neighbors complained about noise. Michael Derderian, 45, and Biechele, 30, were sentenced to four years in prison after entering pleas to the charges against then. Jeffrey Derderian, 40, was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.

Many people, including Lynch’s unsuccessful opponent in this month’s election, have said that others, including Larocque, should have been charged.

Larocque’s account about not seeing the foam stands in contrast to statements given by town building inspector Stephen D. Murray, who had accompanied him on the November 2002 inspection.

In a sworn affidavit that supported a request for the search warrant for Michael Derderian’s home, West Warwick Detective Sgt. Keith C. Azverde told investigators that one of the reasons the in-swinging exit door had to be removed from the nightclub was because it “was covered with acoustic foam.”

But that is not in line with a witness statement that was included in the documents released yesterday. In an interview almost a week after the fire with investigators from the state police and the state fire marshal’s office, Murray said he never noticed foam during the November inspection.

The search warrant affidavit also indicates that the nightclub’s operators knew Biechele’s band, Great White, would use fireworks — called pyrotechnics in the entertainment industry — despite public denials by club owners.

“It was a total shock to see pyrotechnics go off . . . ,” Jeffrey Derderian said at a news conference two days after the fire. “At no time, did my brother or I have any knowledge that pyrotechnics were going to be used by the band Great White. No permission was ever requested by the band or any of its agents to use pyrotechnics at the Station and no permission was ever granted.”

But, according to Azverde’s affidavit, a club employee coordinated the fireworks display with Daniel Biechele.

“Dan told David Stone that he would be using pyrotechnics which he described as ‘gerbs,’ ” the affidavit says. “ ‘Dan’ stated that he ... wanted the stage to go dark when the gerbs would light briefly. He was told that after the gerbs went out he should use his discretion in what sort of light show he would do.”

Prosecutors have said no one ever secured the required permit for the pyrotechnics that sparked the Station fire, and they’ve said pyrotechnics were used at the club during previous shows.

Among the 2,242 pages seized from Michael Derderian’s home was a contract that addressed the possible use of pyrotechnics during an August 2000 show at the club by King Diamond.

Under a section titled “The Show – Pyro & Dry Ice,” a contract rider says, “During the show, the artist will use minor hand held pyro devices. Should there be any requirement for an official approval from state licensed pyrotechnician, fire marshal or other, it will be at The Employer’s sole responsibility and cost to arrange so.”

The seized documents also show that the Derderians and Howard Julian — who sometimes partnered with the brothers to produce shows — were at times representing that The Station had a capacity of 400 to 750 — way over the club’s legal limit of 404. For example, a document regarding an April 2001 performance by the band The Alarm pegged the club’s capacity at 450, and a contract for an April 2000 show by Shania Twin (billed as “North America’s tribute to Shania Twain”) listed the club’s capacity as 600.

Documents seized from Derderian’s home indicate that Jeffrey Derderian ordered 700 tickets for the fateful Great White show. Of those, 350 were to be sold in advance for $15 each and 350 were to be sold the day of the show for $17 each.

Prosecutors have said there were 458 people at the club on the night of the fire.

They also show that even though the Derderians operated their nightclub under the corporate name DERCO LLC, they sometimes wrote checks to bands from their personal checking accounts.

The papers show that the Derderians paid $70,000 to buy their nightclub from Julian in 2000 but borrowed all but $10,000 of the money from Julian to make the purchase. They executed a promissory note, promising to pay back the $60,000 with 8 percent annual interest in monthly installments — with the final installment to be paid in March, 2005.

The documents also show that after purchasing the club, Michael Derderian had a net worth of $1,391,000 — including a $65,000 Cessna 172 airplane and a $35,000 power boat, plus two homes, in Saunderstown and in Narragansett. His brother, Jeffrey, who also had a job as a television reporter, had a net worth of $199,000.

The dozens of concert contracts seized from Derderian’s home offer a glimpse at how specific bands can be about the food and beverages that band members required to be provided for performances at The Station and other venues where the Derderians and Julian produced shows.

L.A. Guns called for, among other things, a case of Heineken beer, two fifths of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, one jar of Skippy Super-Chunk peanut butter and one box of either Twinkies or Ding Dongs.

Guitarist Stanley Jordan asked for a quart of vegetarian soup, nuts and seeds, organic strawberries, red grapes and hummus. “No apples please.”

England’s The Fixx asked for lox and bagels and Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila.

For a 2000 concert, NRBQ requested a small jar of creamy peanut butter with a spreading knife, a bottle of Cognac and a case of imported bottled beer. “Please no Bud, Miller or cans!”

Saxon, another band, wanted a pound of Hawaiian Kona Gold premium coffee with a bean grinder and drip coffee maker, a pack of chewing gum, pepperoni pizzas and Dr. Pepper.

Earth, Wind and Fire demanded Chalkhill Chardonnay (1999), Howell Mountain Bancroft Ranch Merlot (1997)and Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet for a concert performed at Providence’s civic center in 2002. The cost to the promoters: $564.96 for six bottles.

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul who performed at the Providence Performing Arts Center the same year, was treated less royally. Among the papers found in Michael Derderian’s file for the event was a receipt for cashews and mixed nuts bought for her at Ocean State Job Lot. The two cans of cashews cost $2.49 each; the mixed nuts, $1.99.