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Club Owners and Tour Manager Indicted In Deadly Fire

After a nine-month investigation, a Rhode Island grand jury Tuesday indicted the two owners of the Station nightclub and the manager of the band whose pyrotechnic display during a Feb. 20 performance here started a devastating fire that killed 100 people and injured hundreds more.

Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, brothers who had operated the club since 2000, and Dan Biechele, the tour manager for the band Great White, were each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter -- two counts for each person killed.

The indictments represent the first criminal charges stemming from one of the nation's worst nightclub fires. The Derderians' charges were in connection with their alleged installation of flammable material on the walls for use as sound insulation. Fire investigators have said the material allowed the blaze to spread quickly, engulfing the club in minutes. Biechele's charges resulted from his use of pyrotechnics without a license.

Rhode Island law allows defendants to be charged with two separate types of involuntary manslaughter, each of which is a felony and carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

The band manager has said he set off the pyrotechnics with the club owners' permission, but the Derderians have said they never knew Great White planned the display as part of its concert.

Read the full article at WashingtonPost.com.