infobong.com

Families of the Great White fire victims are filing wrongful death lawsuits against a number of actors in the tragedy. According to this AP wire story, families are suing "club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, members of the band Great White, the band's management company Manic Music Inc., West Warwick Fire Inspector Denis Larocque and American Foam Corp., the company that sold the club highly flammable foam to use for soundproofing." Sounds like they're suing everyone imaginable - except the manufacturers of the fireworks. Why not the people who make the stuff that initially torched the place?

When I first read about this event, I initially thought of Philadelphia's Licensing and Inspections, the unit of the municipal government dedicated to inspecting buildings and enforcing codes. L&I was notoriously corrupt, approving nearly everything for a bribe, yet selectively enforcing code when they wanted to harrass activists. I wondered if this community had a similarly corrupt inspections office, considering Rhode Island is reknown as one of the last strongholds of organized crime in the US. If this the case, I think the blame lies with a community too corrupt or apathetic to clean up their local government.