Oakland fire victims’ familes could face long fight for closure

PROVIDENCE, R.I.— Authorities investigating the California warehouse party fire that killed 36 people have said they are considering a criminal case—even murder charges. But as relatives learned after a nightclub fire killed 100 people in Rhode Island, any prosecution would be a long and complicated road that may not end with a feeling of justice.

The 2003 fire at The Station in West Warwick was started by pyrotechnics for the rock band Great White, which set fire to foam that lined the walls as soundproofing. It was actually highly flammable packing foam, never approved for such a use, and the crowded club became an inferno in seconds.

In Oakland, investigators have said they’re looking at electrical appliances as possible causes in the Friday night fire in the warehouse packed with wooden structures.

Relatives of those killed and lawyers involved in the Rhode Island case said they see troubling parallels.

In both fires, there was an alleged lack of proper permits and loads of highly flammable material inside. In both, the operators were accused of ignoring safety standards, such as providing adequate fire exits. As in Rhode Island, there are suggestions that officials in Oakland didn’t do enough to inspect and monitor the building, leading to tragedy.

A nearly 10-month grand jury investigation resulted in involuntary manslaughter charges for three people: the club’s owners, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, and the man who set off the pyrotechnics, Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele.

But many were outraged that the town’s fire marshal and Great White leader Jack Russell were not charged.

Dave Kane, whose son, Nicholas O’Neill, died in The Station fire, said he believes he is seeing in Oakland what he saw in Rhode Island: a rush to blame the operator of the space and to protect public officials.

“The elected officials, the fire officials, they’re the responsible ones,” Kane said.