The following report is courtesy of The Associated Press:

The attorney general's office said Thursday it was refusing for now to release to the media the evidence collected during the investigation into the deadly Station nightclub fire.

The office responded Thursday to a public records request filed last month by The Providence Journal, said Michael Healey, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch.

The Associated Press and The Boston Globe have also submitted separate records requests.

Healey said the office was forced to balance the privacy rights of victims' families against the public's right to information about the fire, which killed 100 people in February 2003.

He said the office was proposing that a judge schedule a court date for victims' families and others affected by the fire to state their objections to the information request.

If the families do not object to the release of certain evidence, then the office would work toward making those materials public, Healey said.

"The big issue for us is making sure that families, victims and witnesses have an opportunity to assert their privacy rights," he said.

Some of the evidence collected includes witness interviews and statements, photographs, 911 calls, financial records and information used by the judge during the sentencing of the defendants.

The Feb. 20, 2003, fire at the West Warwick club began when pyrotechnics used by the rock band GREAT WHITEignited flammable soundproofing foam.

All three defendants reached plea agreements, eliminating the opportunity for a criminal trial and angering victims' relatives who feared their lingering questions might never be answered.

Club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges in September. Michael Derderian was sentenced to four years in prison, while Jeffrey Derderian was given 500 hours of community service.

Former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele was given a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to igniting the pyrotechnics.

Requests for the release of secret grand jury testimony is still pending.