Twelve people were hurt in the fire, including two firefighters, officials said at press conference this morning.Three suffered critical injuries, according to Fire Chief David Thiboutot. Two are in Rhode Island Hospital and the third is in Hasbro Children's Hospital, he said.

The firefighters have been treated and released.

The 220 County St. club, housed on the first floor of a triple-decker building, had no license that would have required inspections by the Fire Department, officials said at a press conference this morning.

In the absence of a liquor or other licenses, "there was nothing to trigger an inspection," Thiboutot said. The question of inspections was among the many issues raised in the aftermath of The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I., that killed 100 people in February 2003.

The chief reiterated that the fire apparently was caused when lit candles ignited paper decorations that had been put up throughout the club for a religious feast this weekend.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan called the fast-moving fire a "wake-up" call, and said he's urging fire chiefs throughout the state to inform operators of such clubs about the danger of open flames and flammable decorations.

"A combination of candles and flammable decorations are at times a recipe for tragedy and disaster as we saw last night," said Coan said.

He said he didn't want to curb religious ceremonies, just educate people about safety.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Blackened siding and a fire truck were among the signs this morning of the blaze that killed four people last night in the St. John's Holy Ghost Association club on the first floor of this triple-decker building at 220 County St. Apartments are above the club.

The scene outside the charred, three-story building on County Street was quiet this morning. A partly blackened St. John's Holy Ghost Association Inc. sign hung over the street.

Maria DeCosta, who lives in an apartment on the third floor, said she escaped through heavy smoke with her two children.

She felt her floor shake, looked out the window and saw "flames everywhere." She pushed her children out in front of her and down a stairway, unable to see because of the smoke.

Outside, she saw people breaking windows from the inside outside, trying to escape the building.

Other neighbors were looking at the building this morning and talking quietly. Several said that they don't use candles in their homes because of their fear of fire.

Witnesses told investigators that a votive candle accidentally ignited a ceremonial paper tree, according to Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.

-- With reports from Journal columnist Bob Kerr and projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson