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« High school basketball melee leads to suspensions | Today | Little Compton groundhog to take the spotlight » February 1, 2007Station: Nothing new from ex-fire marshal LarocqueThe grand jury testimony of former West Warwick fire marshal Denis P. Larocque released today had been previously released to The Journal by Kathleen M. Hagerty, a criminal defense lawyer who represented the brothers who owned the nightclub. Three witness statements by Larocque to state investigators and copies of memos between him and other town officials were also released today in the massive release of evidence by the state Attorney General’s Office. All of those except one of the witness statements had been released earlier by the Attorney General’s Office or the town of West Warwick. In the witness statement newly released today, Larocque detailed how he printed for inspectors a copy of a missing memo from his computer when it couldn’t be found in town files. In the documents, Larocque has given two different explanations for why he did not order The Station nightclub to remove highly flammable polyurethane foam that had been placed on the building's walls as soundproofing and that helped a deadly fire race through the building, ultimately claiming 100 lives. Days after the Feb. 20, 2003, fire, Larocque told investigators that he had been blinded by anger after seeing that an illegal door he had ordered removed had been reinstalled. Four months later, Larocque told a grand jury that he did not see the foam during that inspection because he wasn't conducting an in-depth inspection and wasn't looking to see whether the walls had been covered illegally with flammable material. In the grand jury proceeding with Larocque, state prosecutors deflected difficult questions away from West Warwick's fire marshal several times while he testified. The toughest questions for Larocque were about two topics: his calculation of the maximum number of people who could safely be in the building and how he missed highly flammable polyurethane foam that had been glued to the nightclub's walls as soundproofing. It was a violation of the fire code to have flammable wall coverings. -- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson and Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker Posted by Kate Bramson CommentsPete Bernard | April 24, 2007 12:54 PM link I just don't understand why this mane was protected in the Grand Jury testimony. He is responsible for the deaths of 100 people and injury of more than 200 others. The families and the victims din't get justice because there were too many coverups. When ask why he didn't see the foam he gave two excuses. How many excuses did the families get when they burried their loved ones ? This sory will never be over and there will be no closure for the families. I don't think this ex-fire marshal cares because he knew he could get away with it. Kim | August 14, 2007 9:59 AM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
I'd say it's fairly obvious the town and the state are covering each other's butts. The Station was paying sorely needed tax revenue and the complaints were down since the installation of the foam. I'm guessing West Warwick is like most New England communities; in desperate need of tax money and the town was in no hurry to shut down viable businesses. Of course LaRocque saw the damn foam. He was told to ignore it.