WEST WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- The building where scores of people died in a fast-moving fire dated at least to the middle of the last century, a one-story wooden box with low ceilings and no sprinklers.
Still, The Station apparently met most if not all state and local building codes. It passed a fire code inspection Dec. 31 and it had at least four exits.
The building was so small sprinklers were not required, though officials suggested fire codes might need another look.
``If there were sprinklers in this building, we wouldn't be here right now,'' Fire Chief Charles Hall said.
Gov. Don Carcieri, state Senate Majority Leader William Irons and state House Speaker William Murphy all said they planned a review of state building codes. They did not promise any changes.
Richard Skinner, regional manager of the National Fire Sprinkler Association Inc., said some states require sprinklers in older buildings.
``They should've had a sprinkler in that building,'' he said.
State Fire Marshal Irving Owens refused to answer questions about whether the state needs tougher building codes.
The building has a long history in this old textile town. During World War II, it was a sailor hangout called The Wheel. It was later called The Red Fox, Tammany Hall and P. Brillo's & Sons, a popular Italian restaurant.
By the early 1990s, it was The Station and it brought in washed-up heavy metal bands and their aging fans.
The fire began Thursday night after a pyrotechnics display by the '80s band Great White. The club didn't have a city license for pyrotechnics to be set off inside and club owners said they never gave the band permission to use them. The leader of Great White says the band had the OK to use the special effects.
The club had a working fire alarm system and emergency lighting, Hall said. He said lighted signs over exit doors were operating properly, and that they were illuminated with battery backup. The club's fire extinguishers worked.
But the flames swept through the building in a matter of minutes. Fire officials and witnesses said the smoke was so thick that the emergency lighting didn't matter.
Christopher Travis was among the dozens of people who made it out. He had been to the club before, but was unaware it had no sprinkler system.
``I still would've gone,'' he said. ``Now, I'll never go to another indoor club in my life.''
