Owens and the state of Rhode Island, as his employer, are named in the largest civil lawsuit in the aftermath of the nightclub fire, which was re-filed in U.S. District Court in mid-February.

The foam inside the nightclub ignited from a fireworks display during a rock concert, and quickly spread flame through the wooden roadhouse packed with people, on Feb. 20, 2003. One hundred died, and more than 200 were hurt.

“The tragic Station nightclub fire showed all of us how important this office – and how important fire safety and prevention are – to the wellbeing of our citizens,” Carcieri said in a statement today. “Since that time, we have dramatically updated our fire codes to make Rhode Island one of the safest states in the country. As chairman of the board that handles appeals of the new fire codes, George has an intimate knowledge of how they are being implemented, how they are working, and what remains to be done.”

Carcieri said that Farrell has a lot of work ahead of him. Specifically, the governor is calling for better coordination between the state fire marshal and local fire marshals, who conduct the vast majority of local inspections, reporting their findings to the state.

“In the coming months, I expect George to recommend the reforms necessary to make that happen,” Carcieri said.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Mark Arsenault