The following report is courtesy of Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

A town fire marshal who inspected a nightclub months before a fire killed 100 people told a grand jury investigating the blaze that he didn't see flammable foam around the stage because his "fire-safety" inspection was focused on extinguishers, exit signs and emergency lighting -- but not on the dangerous material blamed for fueling the flames.

Former West Warwick Fire Marshal Denis Larocque has never spoken publicly about The Station nightclub fire in 2003 -- or his role in inspecting the club. But he described to the grand jury visits to the club in November 2001 and November 2002 that were done as part of an annual liquor license renewal process.

He said he spotted nine problems in November 2002, including poorly lit exit signs and an inward-swinging door, but didn't see the foam because he was doing what he called a "basic," less in-depth inspection.

"These particular inspections are not full-building inspections," Larocque told the grand jury, according to a transcript dated June 25, 2003. "These are, what they call, fire-safety inspections."

A copy of Larocque's testimony, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, offers the fullest account to date of how officials overseeing building inspections and enforcing fire codes never detected the highly flammable foam -- a crucial question in the investigation into the fire.

A judge last month authorized all secret grand jury testimony in the case released, and the attorney general's office hopes to disclose it entirely later this month. But Kathleen Hagerty, an attorney for club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, on Wednesday provided copies of Larocque's testimony and testimony by the man who sold the club owners the highly flammable foam they used as soundproofing.

The disclosure came after repeated requests from the AP for the documents.

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