PROVIDENCE – The insurers for WPRI-TV Channel 12 and cameraman Brian Butler have reached a tentative $30 million settlement with victims of the 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people. The settlement is still subject to approval by the court and the plaintiffs.
“This suit resides in the hands of our insurance companies, which made the decision to settle,” WPRI General Manager Jay Howell said in the Sunday-afternoon announcement.
“The settlement covered the claim that [nightclub co-owner] Jeffrey Derderian – an employee of WPRI for four days at the time – failed to warn patrons about the risk of a fire in his nightclub.
“It was also alleged that our cameraman Brian Butler blocked an exit while leaving the building,” Howell said. “We did then, and still do, vehemently deny this allegation, which is disproved by the video itself.”
When the fire broke out on Feb. 20, 2003, Butler was filming at the nightclub for a news report on safety in public places. His video is the most complete record of the early moments of the fire sparked by pyrotechnics used by rock band Great White.
Lawyers for the victims have accused the cameraman of slowing the crowd’s exit through the front door, a claim Butler and his lawyer have denied.
The settlement – which also involves the station’s parent company, LIN TV Corp. (NYSE: TVL) – is the largest so far in the dozens of civil suits brought by survivors of The Station nightclub fire and relatives of fire victims, according to InsuranceJournal.com.
WPRI-TV Channel 12 Providence/New Bedford is owned and operated by TVL Broadcasting Inc., a subsidiary of LIN TV Corp. (NYSE: TVL). Additional information about the station is available at www.wpri.com. Information about LIN TV Corp. is available at www.lintv.com.
