R.I. Club Owners, Band Manager Indicted

Grieving families who for 10 months wondered whether anyone would be held responsible for a nightclub fire that killed 100 people finally got their answer when a grand jury indicted the club’s owners and the tour manager for the rock band Great White.

Brothers Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, owners of The Station, and Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele were each indicted Tuesday on 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter – two for each victim of the Feb. 20 blaze.

“I understand that no grand jury finding would or could ever speak to the profound suffering and sorrow the victims and their loved ones have endured,” said Attorney General Patrick Lynch. “Our mantra all along has been ‘facts, evidence, the law.’ Nothing else would be a factor. Nothing else was a factor.”

Investigators said the band’s pyrotechnics ignited flammable soundproofing on the walls of the one-story, wooden building in West Warwick in the opening seconds of the band’s first song.

The statewide grand jury concluded the Derderians were responsible for alleged management negligence and because the flammable foam contributed to the fire’s rapid spread. Biechele was charged for setting off the stage fireworks.

All three pleaded innocent Tuesday in Kent County Superior Court and were released on bail. Each count of manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 30 years. The next court appearance is set for Feb. 9.

About 200 people were injured, but Lynch said criminal charges could not be brought on their behalf under Rhode Island law.

A lawyer for one of the club’s owners said it was unfair that the brothers were charged.

“They are not criminals. They did not commit any criminal acts and they should not be charged with any crime,” said Jeffrey Pine, attorney for Jeffrey Derderian.

Pine said he believed local public officials should have been charged.

“The town inspected this club over and over and over and did not cite them for any violations,” Pine said. “We’re disturbed that nobody in the town was held accountable.”

Fire and building inspection reports released by West Warwick never mentioned the foam that surrounded the stage, and the club had passed its last inspection – two months before the fire.

Phone messages left with town Manager Wolfgang Bauer, and town Solicitor Timothy Williamson were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Tom Briody, attorney for Biechele, said his client is “deeply sympathetic to the victims” but is innocent of the charges.

“He could not have known of the dangerous conditions that existed inside The Station,” Briody said.

While the band has maintained it received permission to set off the fireworks, the Derderians insisted permission was never given.

Members of Great White, popular during the 1980s heavy metal era with hits such as “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and “Rock Me,” have been named in several lawsuits but were not charged by the grand jury.

Ed McPherson, an attorney for Great White, said the band was relieved but still saddened over the tragedy. Great White guitarist Ty Longley was among those killed.

Some victims’ friends and family members, many of whom attended a Tuesday meeting where Lynch announced the charges, said blaming the club owners and Great White’s tour manager wasn’t enough. Several echoed Pine’s call for charges against town officials.

“They’re guilty,” said Charles Sweet, of Pembroke, Mass., whose son, Shawn, died in the fire. “Why aren’t they indicted? All they had to say is this place wasn’t safe.”

“My question is ‘Where was the building inspector?’” said Sarah Mancini, whose son played bass in the group that opened for Great White. “If the inspector (missed) the foam, in my opinion he had to be blind.”

In a state so small it seems everyone knows someone affected, pent-up emotions from the last 10 months boiled over at the meeting, according attendees. Mostly, it was anger at Lynch, whom most families and survivors greeted for the first time.

Lynch said the response was no surprise.

“There was a lot of heartache, a lot of pain, some anger, certainly some frustration,” Lynch said afterward. “I fully understand, and expected, frankly, in some respects, far worse than what I received in that room.”

In the wake of the fire, Gov. Don Carcieri called for emergency inspections of all public buildings similar to The Station, and the state formed a commission to investigate the blaze. State lawmakers passed stringent new fire-safety standards, including stricter rules on sprinkler requirements for older buildings.

The blaze also led other states to propose tougher fire regulations for clubs.