Fire Inspection May Have Missed Nightclub’s Crumbling Insulation

Crumbling foam insulation that may have been overlooked in a recent inspection is a focus of a sweeping investigation into the causes of last week’s deadly fire at The Station nightclub, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri said Monday.

At a news conference in nearby Cranston, Carcieri said laboratory tests are underway to determine if the soundproofing material was made of polyurethane, a highly flammable substance. State law prohibits polyurethane in the walls of public spaces such as bars.

“Did we miss something in an examination or inspection?” Carcieri said. “Yeah, we’re going to look at that.”

A pyrotechnic display used Thursday by the band Great White swiftly ignited an acoustic curtain and foam wall behind the stage. The fire raged through the small, wooden club, killing 97 people in about three minutes.

One witness, Erin Pucino, recalled that “all that foam caught fire. People were yelling and shouting. It happened so fast.”

Pucino, 25, managed to escape with minor injuries. At least 300 people were packed into the club for a concert that was advertised extensively, especially on local radio. More than 180 people were injured, 41 critically. About 80 survivors remain hospitalized.

Most bodies were so badly charred that medical examiners were forced to rely on dental records for identification. By Monday, Carcieri said all but 19 victims had been identified. The governor also issued a moratorium on fireworks in settings that accommodate fewer than 300 people. Fire officials Monday were checking clubs around the state for potential fire hazards.

Carcieri also announced Monday that the White House is looking into the possibility of issuing a federal disaster declaration that would make loans or other relief available to Rhode Island. The governor said President Bush had called him and was well aware of “the uniqueness of our situation.”

Among the unusual qualities, Carcieri said, were multiple victims within families. While mourning a family member who died in the fire, Carcieri said some people also were conducting hospital vigils for other relatives who were badly injured.

Carcieri said that while the identification process was proceeding quickly, he cautioned some families could face a longer vigil as medical examiners sought to match dental records, fingerprints and other data with badly burned bodies.

As flowers, stuffed animals, poems and pictures piled up in front of a chain-link fence outside the flattened ruins of The Station, state, federal and local authorities continued to look into Rhode Island’s deadliest fire.

The nightclub -- housed in a one-story building formerly occupied by a series of restaurants -- passed a fire inspection Dec. 31. Fire Chief Charles Hall has declined to comment on whether the insulation material was checked.

Club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian have traded accusations with Great White over who was responsible for the fatal fireworks display. The Derderians’ attorney, Kathleen Hagerty, did not return a telephone call. Century City attorney Edwin McPherson, who represents Great White, also was unavailable Monday.

The band members hastily returned to Los Angeles -- but without guitarist Ty Longley, who perished in the fire.

At Monday’s news conference, Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Patrick Lynch urged the Derderian brothers to cooperate with investigators. Lynch pointed out that Jeffrey Derderian spoke with reporters outside the club while the fire was raging inside. Jeffrey Derderian was a well-known television reporter in Boston who joined the staff of a Providence station 10 days before the fire.

His older brother Michael was out of state but returned after the tragedy. The brothers issued a statement over the weekend but neither has spoken with authorities.

“The people of the state have been ripped apart,” Lynch said. “Certainly in my estimation, both Michael Derderian and Jeffrey could answer questions that we are all here looking for.”

For an hour early Monday evening, the mounting anger and frustration were set aside in the first large memorial service for fire victims.

Bundled in heavy parkas, most wearing black -- though in one case, a hooded orange sweatshirt -- 200 relatives of the victims filled one-third of the pews at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church here. Many carried photographs of smiling men and women in their 20s and 30s. When family members held the photographs up at the request of the Rev. John Holt, many at the service wept.

“Let us know for a moment the ones you loved,” Holt said.

One fire survivor attended the service with his head wrapped in bandages. Another fainted as she entered the church. Several family members clutched red roses left over from bouquets they received Sunday while visiting the site of the fire.

The somber ceremony of remembrance included prayers by Jewish, Muslim and Christian clerics.

“This is a deeply sorrowful time,” Carcieri said at the service. “We have suffered a great tragedy. The depth of that pain is shared by our entire state, our neighboring states, our whole nation and, indeed, much of the world.”

Calling the disaster “a terrible tragedy [that] has touched so many lives,” Carcieri said that “we will be forever changed.”

The governor observed that almost everyone in Rhode Island, which has 1 million residents, seems to have been affected in one way or another. Echoing this sentiment, Patty January of Providence said she felt compelled to attend Monday’s service simply “to pay my respects” to the dead, the injured and all of their families.

January said she knew no one from the fire. But in a pattern that has become familiar, she said several of her friends had friends who were killed or injured at The Station.

“It is such a terrible loss,” she said. “But it does seem to have brought us closer together as a community.”

Many of those at the church went directly to a vigil at the community center in West Warwick, where the fire took place. Even with 1,000 people crowded into a space normally used for town meetings, the vigil had a homey feeling characteristic of the small town 15 miles south of Providence.

“This is surreal. It is a death in the family,” said Carol Perry, a retired office manager. “People for three or four generations know each other [here]. It is something you grow to cherish.”

William J. Murphy, speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, drew whistles and cheers when he announced that The Station site would be turned into a memorial park. Murphy is a West Warwick native who still lives close to where he grew up.

Funerals for those killed in the fire are expected to begin today.