The owners of The Station nightclub in Rhode Island - where 100 people died in an inferno caused by a rock band's pyrotechnics back in 2003 - are finally telling their side of the story for the first time after nearly 20 years of silence.
Jeffrey and Michael Derderian claim that 'sound foam' installed in the West Warwick club was actually 'cheap packing foam' that helped the deadly fire spread, burning the building to the ground in just three minutes.
The brothers are speaking out in their first public interview with 48 Hours.
'We wanted the full story to come out, not just some of it, and that for people who want to, come to their own conclusion on what happened that night,' Jeffrey Derderian told 48 Hours' Jim Axelrod, a three-minute snippet of which was released on Thursday.
'We understand the enormity of what happened. People suffered enormously,' Jeffrey told the Boston Globe in a separate interview prior to the premiere of their upcoming 48 Hours segment.
'We don't want sympathy, but it never leaves us.'
Jeffrey Derderian, pictured, was sentenced to three years of probation and 500 hours of community service
Pictured: Michael (C) and Jeffrey Derderian (R) listen to victim impact statements with attorney Richard Egbert in 2006 during their sentencing trial in Warwick, Rhode Island
The scene inside The Station nightclub on February 20, 2003 when soundproofing foam ignited due to pyrotechnics, killing 100 and injuring 200 more
On February 20, 2003, the nightclub was packed for a Great White concert when a pyrotechnical mishap caused a massive fire as trapped patrons scrambled to exit the fully-engulfed venue.
One of the fireworks ignited soundproofing foam on the club's walls and ceiling, which then burst into flames before filling the nightclub with toxic smoke as the venue continued to burn.
The brothers insist that they ordered 'sound foam' from American Foam Corporation, and didn't want cheap material foam on the walls, which were installed three years before the deadly blaze.
Along with the 100 dead, there were more than 200.
After the fire, the company representative who serviced the venue sent an anonymous fax to the attorney general's office and the press which revealed that the company was not honest with their customers about the dangers of the foam.
The two brothers have posted copies of that document on Facebook, while adding that prosecutors had withheld it from the grand jury at the time of their sentencing.
The Derderian brothers broke their silence after the recent release of 'Trial By Fire,' a book about the tragic incident by investigative reporter Scott James.
Rock band Great White (pictured) was the group performing the night the pyrotechnics ignited the Rhode Island nightclubs soundproofing foam in 2003
The brothers insist they ordered 'sound foam' from American Foam Corporation, pictured, and didn't want cheap material foam on the walls, which was installed three years before the fire
