It is not going to bring back any mothers or fathers, any aunts or uncles or best friends among the 100 victims of The Station nightclub fire on Feb. 20. And it’s not going to ease the physical pain of those enduring rehabilitation for the injuries they sustained.
It is not going to stop some of the survivors – or rescue personnel – from being jolted out of a deep sleep by recurring nightmares.
It is not going to pay the rent for those victims – or family members of victims – who have been unable to return to work because of the physical or mental scars of the fire.
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But the passage of the Comprehensive Fire Safety Act of 2003, signed into law by Gov. Don Carcieri last Monday afternoon, had to happen.
It is why we have a Legislature in the first place. To right wrongs, to protect the citizenry.
The Joint Commission to Study Fire Safety and Pyrotechnics in Rhode Island – led by Sen. John Celona, a Democrat representing North Providence and Lincoln, and Rep. Peter Ginaitt, a Warwick Democrat – should be commended for its efforts. Members painstakingly gathered information, talking to fire safety experts and pyrotechnic specialists.
They listened to heart-wrenching testimony from family members.
In the end, the commission offered several recommendations – all geared toward making Rhode Island the strictest state in the nation in terms of fire safety.
The bill that Carcieri signed into law bans pyrotechnics, except in the largest of venues. It also requires new, more stringent safety regulations for nightclubs with maximum occupancies of 150 to 300, including installing sprinklers and exit signs near the floor. It eliminates grandfather clauses. And it adopts the National Fire Protection Association’s codes for new and existing buildings.
The elected officials who spoke at a ceremonial signing of the legislation on the State House lawn were respectful of the victims and their families. This was a celebration, in a sense, but not really.
“This is a day of so many mixed emotions,” said Carcieri. “No one will ever forget Feb. 20. It changed our state.”
Senate President William V. Irons acknowledged there is nothing the lawmakers can do to take away the pain. But maybe, he said, these legislative efforts could provide some relief.
“Now, we have written laws that are much more stringent – much more protective,” said Irons. “And we are committed to policing those laws.”
Speaker of the House William Murphy, a West Warwick resident, said that anything the Legislature does, “will never be enough.”
Like so many involved, the nightclub fire became personal for Celona. He lost a good friend there.
The commission opened its hearings exactly one month after the fire.
“In my opening remarks at that meeting, I said that we must act comprehensively, thoughtfully, expeditiously and respectfully,” said Celona. “And I said that we must craft legislation that would ensure that those who lost their lives did not do so in vain and the pain of those who were injured would be heard. And I said that the legislation must make Rhode Island the safest state in the nation. This legislation does just that. It indeed makes Rhode Island the safest state in the country and it is a model for every other state to follow.”
The new law accomplishes what it set out to accomplish. It is going to make nightclubs and other gathering places safer.
For the families of the victims, the law represents a small chance to heal – to make just a little bit of sense out of something so senseless. Michelle Hoell, of West Warwick, is one of those family members.
She and her father traveled to the State House during the commission’s hearings to testify as to the importance of the legislation. They did so because Hoell’s sister, Tammy Matera-Housa, 29, died that night.
I asked Hoell if the legislation – the chance to testify – was important to her. She said it was. Incredibly, so, she said.
“I needed to tell people how I felt,” she said.
Michelle and Tammy were a year apart. They looked a lot alike. Their children – two boys each – were also close in age.
“We thought we were going to raise our children together,” said Hoell.
For Michelle Hoell, the fire safety legislation could someday save someone’s life. And that would mean that her sister’s life was not lost in vain. That is solace, though it doesn’t erase the unimaginable pain that she – and other victims of The Station fire – experienced.
“When my son Kyle lost his first tooth … it was six weeks after the fire,” she said. “I picked up my cell phone to call her. That’s how close we were. We told each other everything.…”
