Daily Pulse

Station Education Fund Introduced

The owners of The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., are launching a fund to help pay for the education costs for more than 75 children who lost parents in the deadly blaze at the club, according to a partner in the fund.

Jeffrey and Michael Derderian have launched The Station Education Fund, along with Jody King, a childhood friend who lost his own brother in the fire. The wives of the three men are also involved in the fund.

One hundred people died when The Station caught fire February 20, 2003, after the tour manager for Great White launched pyro, igniting flammable foam on the walls.

Michael Derderian is serving a four-year prison term because of the blaze and Jeffrey received probation and 500 hours of community service. Jeffrey, the younger of the two brothers, is fulfilling his obligation with a national burn survivors’ group and a local fire and rescue company.

The fund is primarily geared to children ranging in age from kindergarten to 12th grade. King declined to provide further details including how much money the fund was intending to raise or what events were being planned.

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