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In the days after the fire, there were considerable efforts to assign and avoid blame on the part of the band, the nightclub owners, the manufacturers and distributors of the foam material and pyrotechnics, and the concert promoters. Through attorneys, club owners said they did not give permission to the band to use pyrotechnics. Band members claimed they had permission.
While investigators focused on the foam material that had been installed behind the stage, claiming the foam was intended for use in packaging and product display, testimony available to the public contradicts this. Testimony by Barry Warner, the salesman from American Foam who sold the foam to the Derderians, confirmed that there was a sales order for high-density acoustic soundproofing foam. Chemical analysis of the actual foam that was in the nightclub on the evening of the fire was never released to the public. A roll of foam confiscated from the basement of the nightclub after the fire was removed by the ATF but the testing done on that specific foam was never released to the public. Witnesses to the fire reported that once ignited, flames spread across the foam at approximately one foot per second.
A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation of the fire, using computer simulations with FDS and a mock-up of the stage area and dance floor, concluded that a fire sprinkler system would have contained the fire long enough to give everyone time to get out safely.[13] However, because of the building's age (built in 1946[13]) and size (4,484 square feet (404 m²)), many believed the Station to be exempt from sprinkler system requirements. In fact, the building had undergone an occupancy change when it was converted from a restaurant to a nightclub. This change dissolved its exemption from the law, a fact that West Warwick fire inspectors never noticed. On the night in question, the Station was legally required to have a sprinkler system but did not;[14] outcry over the
While investigators focused on the foam material that had been installed behind the stage, claiming the foam was intended for use in packaging and product display, testimony available to the public contradicts this. Testimony by Barry Warner, the salesman from American Foam who sold the foam to the Derderians, confirmed that there was a sales order for high-density acoustic soundproofing foam. Chemical analysis of the actual foam that was in the nightclub on the evening of the fire was never released to the public. A roll of foam confiscated from the basement of the nightclub after the fire was removed by the ATF but the testing done on that specific foam was never released to the public. Witnesses to the fire reported that once ignited, flames spread across the foam at approximately one foot per second.
A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation of the fire, using computer simulations with FDS and a mock-up of the stage area and dance floor, concluded that a fire sprinkler system would have contained the fire long enough to give everyone time to get out safely.[13] However, because of the building's age (built in 1946[13]) and size (4,484 square feet (404 m²)), many believed the Station to be exempt from sprinkler system requirements. In fact, the building had undergone an occupancy change when it was converted from a restaurant to a nightclub. This change dissolved its exemption from the law, a fact that West Warwick fire inspectors never noticed. On the night in question, the Station was legally required to have a sprinkler system but did not;[14] outcry over the