Families visit scene of deadly nightclub fire
Rhode Island governor: 42 victims identified
Monday, February 24, 2003 Posted: 2:45 AM EST (0745 GMT)
WEST WARWICK, Rhode Island (CNN) -- About 200 family members visited the charred remains of the Rhode Island nightclub Sunday afternoon to mourn at the spot where 97 of their loved ones died.
Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri said after the visit that many of the relatives expressed thanks for the chance to visit the charred remains of The Station club, which burned to the ground Thursday night after pyrotechnics from the rock band Great White's stage show ignited soundproofing material behind the stage. The resulting flames quickly engulfed the building.
The relatives were taken to the site in buses, and reporters were barred from the area. Carcieri said the families thanked the media for respecting their privacy and various federal, state, local and private agencies for offering them help and support after the disaster
Officials put black fabric over chain-link fences around the club to shield family members from spectators and the media.
Carcieri announced that the official death toll had risen to 97 because a body had been found during a search of the building but excluded from the original total.
Carcieri said 42 victims had been identified. He said forensic teams were working around the clock and that he hoped all of the victims would be identified by Monday.
"My whole focus right now is to get the identifications completed as soon as possible so those families can find closure."
Great White guitarist reported among dead
One of the inferno's victims apparently was Great White guitarist Ty Longley. A statement on the band's Web site Sunday said Longley has been identified as one of the 97 who died.
Eighty people remain in hospitals, Carcieri said.
Carcieri announced that the state had introduced a moratorium on the use of pyrotechnics at clubs of similar size, which would be inspected by fire marshals in the near future.
Carcieri said an interfaith memorial service would be held at a church Monday at 5 p.m. EST, and a vigil at the West Warwick Civic Center is planned for 6 p.m.
Dispute over permission
The question of who authorized Great White to use the pyrotechnics is in dispute. The band said it had permission from the club's owner. The owner said he had no advance knowledge of the devices.
Speaking at a news conference Saturday evening, club owner Jeffrey Derderian said the disaster "will haunt my family and I for the rest of our lives."
He insisted that club management did not give permission for Great White to use pyrotechnics onstage, which started the fire.
Derderian sobbed as he described the devastation his family felt in the wake of this "horrific human tragedy."
"This tragedy has claimed the lives of our friends," Derderian said. "Even though I tried as hard as I could, many people didn't make it out, and that is a horror that will haunt my family and I for the rest of our lives."
Derderian said Great White, known for the hit song "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," never requested permission either from him or his partner and brother, Michael, to use pyrotechnics.
"No permission was ever requested by the band or any of its agents to use pyrotechnics at The Station, and no permission was ever given," he said.
But Ed McPherson, an attorney for the '80s heavy metal band, disputed that.
"There where very specific conversations between the tour manager and one of the club owners about the special effects being used," McPherson said.
"The club owner gave them permission to use it. The other club owner, who I understand is his brother, was actually there while they were setting it up.
"And now they are saying that they didn't have any prior knowledge of it and had no idea that they were going to do this."
Operators of two other clubs where Great White played recently told CNN that the band had used pyrotechnics without permission. Other clubs where the band played said it did not use them.
Newspapers in Boston, Massachusetts, reported Sunday that several other bands said they had played at the West Warwick club and had gotten verbal permission to use pyrotechnics.
Band says pyrotechnics used 'all the time' at club
Members of a former rock group that played at The Station said Sunday they used pyrotechnics "all the time" at the club, and no one ever told them to stop.
"You're supposed to have a licensed pyrotechnician -- we knew that," said David "Kry" Vaccaro, lead singer of the band Lovin' Kry. "You're supposed to get a permit -- I guess the club is supposed to pull a permit when they're going to do pyro. But the law was never enforced, so nobody ever cared."
Even after the Derderians took ownership of the club a couple of years ago, Vaccaro said, club owners always knew full well his band would use pyrotechnic devices on stage. Employees at the door even asked the band eagerly whether they would impress them that night with a fiery show, putting their thumbs up, Vaccaro said.
"And that's kind of the way it is at all clubs, from here to California -- nothing was different," he said.
Vaccaro said his bandmates are not taking sides. They only want to inform the public that bands and clubs constantly break the law simply because regulations, like those dealing with pyrotechnics, are not enforced.
"Now all of a sudden it's a very strict law," he told CNN. "Well, they should have made it a strict law long before this happened."
State attorney general to investigate
Great White had just started playing when the fire broke out about 11 p.m. Thursday. West Warwick Fire Chief Charlie Hall said fire engulfed the wooden building in less than three minutes.
Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said his office will investigate to determine where the responsibility lies.
"I, of course, am focused particularly to see whether or not criminal charges are appropriate," Lynch told "CNN Sunday Night." "I believe that the Derderians would ... appreciate the opportunity to help us all get to the bottom of this and answer some questions that are outstanding."
The band has been cooperative with authorities, Lynch said, but Jeffrey Derderian has only spoken with them once, just after the fire. Lynch said he hoped Derderian and his brother would answer more questions.
It was the second fatal incident at a U.S. club in recent days. Twenty-one people died Monday and more than 50 were injured in a nightclub stampede in Chicago, Illinois, that apparently began when a security guard used pepper spray to break up a fight. (Full story)
