Final Station Defendants Settle

The state of Rhode Island and the town of West Warwick have each agreed to pay $10 million to victims of the 2003 nightclub fire at The Station, where a pyrotechnics display burned the venue to the ground, killing 100 people.

The two entities are the last major defendants to agree to settlement offers, now totaling nearly $175 million. More than 300 survivors and victims’ families still must approve the settlements.

“While we know this settlement will never ease the pain of those enduring enormous heartbreak, it does bring years of court proceedings to an end,” R.I. Attorney General Patrick Lynch said in a statement.

City and state officials were criticized because the venue had been given relaxed inspections. The blaze began when pyro used by Great White ignited foam used as soundproofing on the club’s walls and ceilings. The plaintiffs split the blame multiple ways, from the companies that made and sold the foam, to the club owners who installed it, to the inspectors who failed to identify it as a hazard.

The plaintiffs sued dozens of people and companies over the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, and nearly all defendants, including Anheuser-Busch, Clear Channel Broadcasting and Home Depot, have agreed to settle rather than head to trial.