Posted on 02/28/2003 11:10:57 AM PST by TaxRelief
By TOM MOONEY Journal staff writer
Updated 1:36 p.m. / The owner of American Foam Corp. in Johnston says The Station nightclub in June 2000 purchased $575 worth of common egg-crate packing foam for soundproofing, but it was not fire retardant.
The fire retardant foam would have cost twice as much, according to Aram DerManouelian, who said the club wanted "the lowest grade, the cheapest stuff."
"They had a choice, and they bought general purpose egg-crate foam," said DerManouelian. "It kept the noise down, but whoever figured they'd put flame on it? Jesus. For a $575 invoice, here we are."
Whether the soundproofing was safe and fire retardant, as required by law, is now at the center of the investigation into the blaze at West Warwick club last week, which has killed 97 and injured another 186 people. It was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in the nation's history and the worst fire ever in Rhode Island.
Pyrotechnics set off by the band Great White apparently ignited the foam, then quickly spread to paneling and a suspended ceiling, filling the club with thick black smoke and flames. The building was engulfed within three minutes, West Warwick Fire Chief Charles Hall has said.
DerManouelian said Michael Derderian, co-owner of the club, wrote out a check for a delivery of 25 sheets of the charcoal foam on June 27, 2000. The foam was 2 1/2 inches thick. Each sheet was 37 by 84 inches in diameter. It was made of polyurethane and is generally used for packing.
"It's unfortunate," DerManouelian said. "They did not buy fire retardant foam. Yeah, they could have. We sell fire-retardant foam. They bought the wrong kind. In hindsight, they probably didn't think they were going to have a fire."
Kathleen M. Hagerty, a lawyer for Michael Derderian, confirmed that the club had purchased the foam. She said a neighbor who worked as a salesman for American Foam Corp. suggested they use it as a solution to complaints neighbors had about noise from the club.
Hagerty refused to identify the neighbor.
"We have someone looking for him, and the AG has someone looking for him, too," Hagerty said. "I don't know where the man is. He may be out of town for all I know."
Investigators hunting for the source of the stage insulation used at The Station nightclub searched American Foam Monday night and took samples of products.
The foam was installed to appease neighbors upset by the club's noise. Michael Derderian and his brother, Jeffrey, bought the club in March 2000.
The club's former manager, Tim Arnold, of Johnston, would not confirm or deny yesterday that he had installed the foam soundproofing. A woman who answered the door at his house said Arnold no longer worked at a foam company.
Meanwhile, the grand jury is apparently back in action at Rhode Island National Guard's Camp Fogarty in East Greenwich.
Jack Russell, lead singer for Great White, entered the complex shortly after noon. Several prosecutors from the state attorney general's office were also seen driving into the camp this morning.
Russell is seeking immunity from prosecution or a letter of non-prosecution from the attorney general's office for any possible testimony before the grand jury.
The attorney general's office asked for permission to use classrooms at the camp earlier this week. The grand jury started investigating Wednesday, but did not meet yesterday.
-- With reports from The Associated Press and Journal staff photographer Mary Murphy.
Would you have lighted those pyrotechnics inside your abode as Great White did at The Station?
Ahhh Dane, It's doubtful you'll find one, reason being this was not WALL Foam, this was packaging foam, most people wouldn't even have that on their walls to begin with! Common now..
Go read Joseph Wambaugh's The Fire Lover for an absolutely harrowing description of a catastrophic arson fire at the Ole's Home Center in South Pasadena, California. The fire started in a rack of polyurethane foam.
The fire inspector only has history to go by and history was set on Feb. 20, 2003 and if another catostrophic fire happens from the same foam in the future then the fire inspector of that municipality can be blamed, IMO.
Everyone in the firefighting community has known about the Ole's Home Center fire for almost 20 years now, and they damn well know that you don't use the stuff in large-capacity venues. (Not only does it burn at a horrific pace, it also emits toxic gases as a combustion byproduct.)
This whole tragedy was a trainwreck waiting to happen, with the club and the band heading toward each other on the same track, IMO.
And the fire inspector was the guy at the junction switch, the guy who put them on that same track by letting the place operate for almost three years with this stuff on the walls.
Scratch that. Glitter doesn't burn -- it's the glue.
Now we can add the Eqestrian Community.
Ahhh Japedo, fire dept.'s across the nation learned that lesson on the night of Feb. 20th, 2003 from the tragedy at The Station nightclub.
One that stupid club owners would put that crap up on their wall and second that stupid bands would light a pyrotechnic show without a permit.
BTW, Japedo, would you let a pyrotechnic show as seen from the videotape from WPRI, happen in your house?
Never heard of that fire or the book, of course I am not a fire inspector. There are thousands of fire dept.'s in this country and each is different. I just don't think that the fire inspector should be blamed because he may have not read a book about a fire 20 years ago, especially(and this is hypothetical) where the fire inspector asks if pyro's are used in the facility. It is not beyond doubt that the club owners said, "We never allow pyro's in this establishment", and that was that.
He took their word, especially since the law says that if pyro's were to be used in that establishment, that a permit would have to filed and the pyro's tested in the establishment.
That never happened and the fire inspector has the spirit of the law on his side, since it was the club and band which committed the fraud.
The foam on the walls were ALREADY AGAINST fire code Dane, that is what you are not Grasping. It was Packaging Foam, NOT wall foam.
BTW, Japedo, would you let a pyrotechnic show as seen from the videotape from WPRI, happen in your house?
Why no Dane, I also wouldn't have a rock concert in my house either, what is the point of this question? LOL
The point is that the club said that they didn't approve pyro's. Looks like the law is on the club's side on this point since nothing was put in writing.
I am not letting the club off the hook, and also I am not letting the band off the hook since they intiated the use of pyrotechnics.
The point I am trying to make is that the fire inspector can't and shouldn't expected to become a Miss Cleo to the actions of the band and the club.
If the wall were made of approved material, touching a lighter flame to it for twelve seconds should have caused only localized damage, with no fire spreading. The combination of polyurethane foam and highly inflammable glue, however, meant that one could probably have ignited it using a flint-based (gasless) stove lighter.
BTW, I wonder what the legal ramifications would have been if the building inspector had tried touching a flame to a small part of the back wall and the whole building went up before anyone could stop the fire?
Probably not; though I'm sure QC is better on the professional gerbs than on Chinese novelty fountains, I've seen too many cheap fireworks malfunction to trust anything like that in my abode. Wire sparklers are fine, since there's not really much that can go wrong with those. But other fireworks can go boom in wierd ways and send flaming stuff where they shouldn't.
BTW, I wonder what the legal ramifications would have been if the building inspector had tried touching a flame to a small part of the back wall and the whole building went up before anyone could stop the fire?
That's the point. Who would have thought a pyrotechnics show that has been seen from the WPRI footage would have been used in a room like that?
And the point still stands that the club and band didn't apply for a permit for the use of pyrotechnics. According to the lawful procedure, the band and the club are the ones who committed the fraud with their not applying for a permit but still using the pyrotechnics.
The book made the tale accessible to the non-fire-inspectors out there. The professional literature of the firefighting community has covered this fire extensively.
There are thousands of fire dept.'s in this country and each is different.
They don't live in a vacuum. Fire codes are uniform across the country; they are based on work by such organizations as Underwriter's Laboratory and the International Fire Code Institute.
I just don't think that the fire inspector should be blamed because he may have not read a book about a fire 20 years ago, especially(and this is hypothetical) where the fire inspector asks if pyro's are used in the facility.
It's hypothetical--and completely irrelevant.
Fire-retardant wall coverings have been MANDATORY in all commercial buildings since 1942 and the Coconut Grove fire. The 12-second flame test is MANDATORY during the inspection. Polyurethane foam would ignite like rocket fuel in less than two seconds.
It is not beyond doubt that the club owners said, "We never allow pyro's in this establishment", and that was that.
Wrong answer. The fire code doesn't CARE what purpose the venue is being used for; the fire code is only concerned with the materials being used.
He took their word, especially since the law says that if pyro's were to be used in that establishment, that a permit would have to filed and the pyro's tested in the establishment.
Wrong answer. He is required to INSPECT, not chat with the owner and then not inspect if he likes the answers.
That never happened and the fire inspector has the spirit of the law on his side, since it was the club and band which committed the fraud.
Dane, you are missing the point: the fire inspector had a duty to verify that the wall coverings adhered to the fire code. They did not. The fire inspector defrauded the community by not performin an inspection.
Is there some reason why you are so hell-bent on shielding the fire inspector from the consequences of his nonperformance of duties?
None. The building burning to the ground like that would be prima facie evidence that it didn't meet the fire code.
I understand what you are saying and the fire inspector may have been negligent, but the point still stands that the club and the band did not apply for a permit, where someone from the fire dept. had to be present to see the pyro's in work.
I stated this on another thread about this tragedy. This is a chicken and the egg scenario.
In this case a chicken and a egg and another egg scenario.
One could say that the fire inspector is at fault for not closing down the club, one could say that the club is at fault for putting the foam on the wall, and one could say the band is at fault for lighting the match which turned the club into an inferno.
JMO, the club is the most at fault for putting the flammable foam on that wall, the band second for being negligent about lighting pyrotechnics in such a small space, and the fire inspector third.
Maybe the fire inspector was being naive in thinking that pyrotechnics more suited for a large arena would never be used in such a small space or maybe he could have been as you have stated, corrupt and took a bribe from the club owners. I don't know the recent history of fires in West Warwick, RI, but from the evidence I have seen, and IMHO, the fire inspector was probably naive in thinking that people would never be stupid enough in lighting pyrotechnics in such a place.
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