Foam company offers R.I. fire plaintiffs $6.3M

The agreement filed Thursday by Johnston-based American Foam Corp. brings total settlements offered in the case to roughly $153 million. The settlement must be approved by the hundreds of people suing.

The Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station nightclub began when pyrotechnics for rock band Great White ignited the foam, which was used as soundproofing around the stage.

The families sued American Foam, alleging the company did not warn the nightclub owner that the foam was flammable.

A message left for American Foam's lawyers was not immediately returned.

The newest settlement also covers the estate of Aram DerManouelian, the company's former president who has since died, and Barry Warner, a company salesman who lived near the club and suggested that club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian buy soundproofing foam to quell noise complaints.

American Foam sold the club $575 of foam in June 2000, three months after the Derderians became the owners. Experts say the foam burns like gasoline, emits a dense smoke with toxic gases and is not suitable for acoustic insulation.

The Derderians, who pleaded no contest two years ago to involuntary manslaughter charges, have said they never knew the foam was flammable.

DerManouelian told a state grand jury investigating the fire that his company did not provide technical information on the foam it sold unless customers requested it. Warner said he never told the Derderians the foam was flammable, but also said the brothers never asked.

Warner has said he consulted with the Derderians about the foam, but did not handle the details of the purchase. Kathleen Hagerty, an attorney for the Derderians, has disputed Warner's account, saying he made the measurements in the club, and that the brothers relied on his advice.