Fire Marshal Who Headed Department During GREAT WHITE Nightclub Fire Retires

December 16, 2005

The Associated Press is reporting that the state's fire marshal, who faced tough criticism after the deadly nightclub fire that killed 100 people in 2003, will retire next week, Gov. Don Carcieri announced Friday.

Owens led the fire marshal's office during the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station nightclub, which began when pyrotechnics set off by the rock band GREAT WHITE ignited highly flammable foam that lined the club's walls and ceiling.

Records showed that local fire inspectors, who are certified by the fire marshal's office, did not note the flammable foam in their periodic reports on the club. The club was cited for several minor code violations, including a door that swung the wrong way.

Lawsuits filed on behalf of fire survivors and relatives of those killed included Owens as a defendant. A complaint filed by a large group of plaintiffs in July 2004 named dozens of defendants and accused Owens of negligence, saying inspections of the club failed to discover the foam and that local fire inspectors were not properly trained or supervised.

But U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux ruled last month that Owens was shielded from civil liability stemming from the fire and dismissed him as a defendant.

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).