PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A court has accepted a bankruptcy petition from the owners of a nightclub where 100 people died in a 2003 fire, freeing them from potential civil liability, their lawyer said. Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, owners of The Station nightclub, filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in September, saying their debts far exceeded their assets. They released a statement Wednesday saying it had been accepted in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The Derderians said they will continue making voluntary payments to the families of four employees who were killed in the fire. The Derderians are among dozens of defendants who have been sued in federal court by fire survivors and relatives of those killed. Their bankruptcy lawyer, Christopher Lefebvre, said the bankruptcy petition will have minimal impact on the civil case because the Derderians were never among the deep-pocketed defendants.