Report: Rhode Island Fire Marshall 'Stretched Thin' Prior To GREAT WHITE Tragedy

May 31, 2004

A Rhode Island fire marshal responsible for inspecting The Station nightclub logged at least 1,911 hours of overtime in the four years before the deadly fire there, according to a Providence Journal review of his overtime payments.

Denis P. Larocque, a self-described "one-man fire prevention division," worked an average of at least nine hours of overtime per week, or the equivalent of 12 weeks of extra work per year.

The Town of West Warwick disclosed the payments earlier this month, in response to a Journal request, under the state Access to Public Records Law, that was filed more than eight months earlier.

Larocque logged the overtime inspecting buildings, reviewing construction plans, investigating the cause of fires, and filling in for regular-duty firefighters who were out, according to Town Manager Wolfgang Bauer and Fire Chief Charles D. Hall. [Read more] (free registration required)

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