GREAT WHITE Nightclub Fire: Prosecutors Seek Documents On TV News Report

The Associated Press has issued the following report:

Prosecutors in the case against the brothers who owned a nightclub where 100 people died in a 2003 fire want to subpoena a Boston television station where one of the men once worked to get notes about a report he did on escaping from fires.

The Station nightclub burned down on Feb. 20, 2003 after a tour manager for the rock band GREAT WHITE lit pyrotechnics inside the West Warwick club, igniting flammable foam that lined the club's walls and ceiling. More than 200 people were injured.

Jeffrey Derderian, who owned the club with his brother, Michael, was also a television reporter who formerly worked for WHDH-TV in Boston. His story, titled "Getting Out Alive," aired in November 2001, less than a year and a half before the fire.

In the report, Derderian offers advice on safely escaping from an office building in the event of an emergency, according to a transcript filed by prosecutors Thursday with their request to a judge for a subpoena.

The Derderians each face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter for negligently operating the club and for putting up the flammable foam.

The Attorney General's Office said it sought to subpoena “any and all documents relating to the research, creation and/or production” of the news segment.

Ginny Lund, a spokeswoman for WHDH, declined to comment on the request.

Daniel Biechele, former tour manager for rock band GREAT WHITE, pleaded guilty last month to setting off the pyrotechnics and will serve a maximum of 10 years in prison. He will be sentenced this spring.

For the television news story, Derderian reported from an office building in Quincy, Mass. as local fire officials demonstrate an evacuation plan.

Derderian advises viewers to leave open passageways leading to exits, familiarize themselves with exit plans and know of at least two ways out of a building.

"Experts say one of the big problems people do is they try and go back into the building after they've come out," says during the report, according to a transcript of the segment attached to court documents. "They try and get pictures or mementos. Experts say just stay out of the building, just get out as quick as you can."

Lawyers for Jeffrey Derderian did not immediately return calls for comment Friday afternoon. Derderian worked as a television news reporter for WPRI-TV at the time of the nightclub fire.