Great White, Club Sued

Family members of Tina Ayer and Donald Roderiques, two of the
ninety-eight people killed in the February 20th fire at Rhode
Island’s Station nightclub, filed wrongful death suits in
Providence Superior Court yesterday. The claims name both Great
White, whose pyrotechnics set off the blaze, and the club’s owners
Michael and Jeffrey Derderian.

Also named as defendants in the suit were the town of West
Warwick, where the Station is located, the American Foam Corp.,
which made the packing foam the nightclub installed for
soundproofing, a fire inspector who passed the club on an
inspection last year and the man who ignited the pyrotechnics. As
many as thirty families are expected to join the litigation.

A grand jury convened in Rhode Island last week to investigate
the possibility of criminal wrongdoing. Yesterday, Great White
guitarist Mark Kendall testified.

The members of Great White have maintained that they had
permission from club owners to set off the sparklers, but the
owners have denied that claim.