1978 Holiday Inn fire

Last updated
Holiday Inn fire
DateNovember 26, 1978 (1978-11-26)
Location Greece, New York, U.S.
Coordinates 43°12′19″N77°40′06″W / 43.205395°N 77.668405°W / 43.205395; -77.668405
Type Fire
Cause Arson
Deaths10
Non-fatal injuries34

The 1978 Holiday Inn fire broke out at a Holiday Inn hotel located at 1525 West Ridge Road in the town of Greece, New York, United States, on November 26, 1978. [1] [2] The fire was considered notable enough by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Center for Fire Research to document the fire in their 1979 publications. [1] [3] In the end, ten people were killed and 34 injured; seven of the fatalities were Canadian nationals. [4] In 2008, the NFPA listed the 1978 Holiday Inn fire as one of only three dozen or so fires which killed ten or more people in the U.S. between 1934 and 2006. [2]

Contents

Fire

The Holiday Inn in Greece, New York, was built in 1963 at a cost of US$1.3 million and consisted of a wood-frame structure with interior hallways and 91 rooms. The hotel had passed a fire inspection earlier in the month. [5] The fire started on the first floor between the north and west wings of the hotel around 2:30 am. Cleaning supplies and paper products were stored in a closet near the fire's point of origin. Due to fire doors being left opened and the nearby combustible materials, the fire spread very rapidly. The fire alarm system was not tied to a dispatch center and although some people reported a bell ringing, they failed to realize it was the fire alarm bell. [6]

Investigators later determined that the fire broke windows in the hallways connecting the hotel's two wings. Flames shot up to the roofs of both wings and swept through an open area between the room's ceilings and roofs. Firewalls in the buildings did not extend to the roof, allowing the fire to rip through the top floor of each wing. The burning roof had collapsed into the top floor rooms. [7]

The fire was not reported to the Greece-Ridge Fire Department until 2:38 am, when an off-duty firefighter passing by the hotel reported it. [3] 125 firefighters from six nearby fire companies responded and fought the fire for two hours until 4:34 am. About 170 people were rescued from the building by firefighters and passers-by. [8] The fire killed ten victims—eight women and two men—and injured 34.

Investigation

Initially, the Greece Police Department did not consider the fire suspicious. Questions arose about whether or not the fire alarms could be heard in the lobby of the hotel when firefighters arrived. While hotel officials said the alarms were functioning, firefighters first at the scene said they were unable to hear the bells. Although the building met existing fire codes, it lacked some fire prevention equipment including smoke detectors and a sprinkler system. Additionally, the fire alarm system was not connected to the fire department or any other security agency, and there was only one vertical firewall between the two wings. The alarm system consisted only of one bell in the middle of each of the two wings. [9] John Stickevers, a New York City fire investigator brought in to assist with the investigation, discovered that an uncommon, highly flammable liquid accelerant was used to start the fire inside a storage cupboard under the first floor stairwell. [10] The fire was officially ruled as an arson attack, but no one was ever charged with this crime and the case remains open today.

In early 2011, police launched the most intensive investigation of the fire in the previous thirty years. [11] On November 26, 2014, police announced that they have identified a suspect for the first time, 36 years after the fire. [12] In 2018, it was reported that the investigation had been narrowed down to two suspects but that the investigation had stalled over disagreements between Greece Police and the Monroe County District Attorney on which suspect is responsible and over proof of arson. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire marshal</span> Person who inspects buildings for fire safety

A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually include fire code enforcement or investigating fires for origin and cause. Fire marshals may be sworn law enforcement officers and are often experienced firefighters. In larger cities with substantially developed fire departments the local fire departments are sometimes delegated some of the duties of the fire marshal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beverly Hills Supper Club fire</span> Nightclub fire in Kentucky in 1977

The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky, is the seventh deadliest nightclub fire in history. It occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A total of 165 people died and more than 200 were injured as a result of the blaze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of the Angels School fire</span> 1958 school fire in Chicago, Illinois

On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, shortly before classes were to be dismissed for the day. The fire originated in the basement near the foot of a stairway. The elementary school was operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago and had an enrollment of approximately 1600 students. A total of 92 pupils and 3 nuns ultimately died when smoke, heat, fire, and toxic gases cut off their normal means of egress through corridors and stairways. Many more were injured when they jumped from second-floor windows which, because the building had a raised basement, were nearly as high above ground as a third floor would be on level ground, approximately 25 feet (7.6 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Fire Department</span>

City of Houston Fire Department (HFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States. HFD is responsible for preserving life and property for a population of more than 2 million in an area totaling 654 square miles (1,690 km2). The department is the largest fire department in the state of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dupont Plaza Hotel arson</span> 1986 New Years Eve fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico

On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1986, three disgruntled employees at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, intentionally set a fire. The employees were involved in a labor dispute with the owners. The fire killed between 96 and 98 people and injured 140 others. It is the most catastrophic hotel fire in Puerto Rican history and the second deadliest hotel fire in U.S. territory in history, after the Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City Fire Department</span>

The Kansas City Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical service for Kansas City, Missouri, and under contract to Village of the Oaks, Village of Oakwood Park, and Village of Oakwood. It provides fire protection only under contract to City of Lake Waukomis, City of Platte Woods, City of Weatherby Lake, and Village of Ferrelview. In addition, it provides EMS support under contract for the City of Riverside. It operates 35 fire stations, one dedicated EMS operations facility housing dynamically deployed ambulances, organized into seven battalions and cover 318 square miles (820 km2).

Firefighting is the act of extinguishing destructive fires. A firefighter fights these fires with the intent to prevent destruction of life, property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical profession, which requires years of training and education in order to become proficient. A fire can rapidly spread and endanger many lives; however, with modern firefighting techniques, catastrophe can usually be avoided. To help prevent fires from starting, a firefighter's duties include public education and conducting fire inspections. Because firefighters are often the first responders to victims in critical conditions, firefighters often also provide basic life support as emergency medical technicians or advanced life support as licensed paramedics. Firefighters make up one of the major emergency services, along with the emergency medical service, the police, and many others.

The Lake Worth Church fire occurred in 1999 in Lake Worth, Texas, United States. On February 15, 1999, firefighters in Lake Worth, Texas, and surrounding towns were alerted to a fire in a church on Roberts Cut Off Road in the area of Cowden Street just before 11 A.M. The roof of the church would eventually collapse, trapping five firefighters inside, three of whom would die before they could be rescued. Four firefighters were also on the roof performing ventilation operations when it collapsed below them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Line of duty death</span>

A line of duty death (LODD) is a death in the fire service or the police service while on duty.

The Study Club fire killed 22 people and injured over 50 in a Detroit, Michigan dance hall on September 20, 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penhallow Hotel fire</span> 2007 fire in Cornwall, England

The Penhallow Hotel fire was a suspected arson attack that occurred in Newquay, Cornwall on 18 August 2007. Three people were killed and it was reported as the worst hotel fire in the United Kingdom in nearly 40 years. The hotel was a well-known hotel for holiday makers ranging from families to older residents. It had been built in Island Crescent between 1912 and 1917, and had been altered more than once. The building had a wooden fire escape at the rear, and a central light shaft running from the ground floor up to the roof in the centre of the hotel. Both of these aspects of the building played a dramatic role in the outcome of the fire. Many of those that escaped the fire were elderly holiday makers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winecoff Hotel fire</span> 1946 fire in Atlanta, Georgia

The Winecoff Hotel fire, of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in American history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, its interior finishes were combustible and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors. All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debora Green</span> American doctor and convicted murderer

Debora Green is an American physician who pleaded no contest to setting a 1995 fire that burned down her family's home and killed two of her children, and to poisoning her husband with ricin with the intention of causing his death. The case was sensational, and covered heavily by news media, especially in the Kansas–Missouri area, where the crimes occurred. Though Green has petitioned for a new trial twice in recent years, her requests have not been successful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Inn fire</span> 2013 fire in Houston, Texas

The Southwest Inn fire in Houston, Texas on May 31, 2013 was a fire in an Indian restaurant that spread to an adjoining hotel. The fire claimed the biggest casualty loss for the Houston Fire Department since its inception. Four firefighters were killed and 13 others were injured that day while fighting the five-alarm fire at the Southwest Inn located in Southwest Houston. On March 7, 2017, Captain Bill Dowling, who lost both his legs battling the fire in 2013, died of complications from his line-of-duty injuries.

On February 27, 1975, fire broke out at the New York Telephone Company switching center at 204 Second Avenue and Thirteenth Street in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. At this time, the building contained central offices for connecting local customer telephone lines, as well as toll switching systems. The fire disrupted service for 175,000 customers, connected within the building through 105,000 service loops. It was the worst single service disaster suffered by any single Bell operating company in the 20th century.

On 25 August 2018, a fire broke out at the Beilong Hot Spring Hotel in Harbin. Located in the city's Taiyang Island (太阳岛) resort area, the four-storey brick-and-concrete hotel mostly accommodates domestic tourists and was hosting over 100 people at the time, many of whom were visiting for an annual marathon. The fire resulted in 20 deaths and 23 injuries.

On 5 February 2019, a fire killed at least 10 people and injured at least 36 others at an apartment block on Rue Erlanger in Paris' 16th arrondissement, France, making it the deadliest fire in the French capital since 2005.

A fire began at a budget hotel in Central Delhi, the Hotel Arpit Palace, in the Karol Bagh area of the city, at around 4.30am on 12 February 2019, killing at least 17 people. The fire went through all floors of the hotel; people were seen jumping from it.

The Waldbaum's Supermarket Fire was a major American fire on 2 August 1978 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York City that killed six FDNY firefighters. The Waldbaum's store at 2892 Ocean Avenue was undergoing extensive renovations, but was open for customers when the fire broke out.

References

  1. 1 2 Fire command, Volume 46. National Fire Protection Association. 1979.
  2. 1 2 "Summary of Fire Incidents 1934-2006 in Hotel Fires in the United States as Reported to the NFPA, with Ten or more Fatalities" (PDF). National Fire Protection Association. January 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-20. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Annual Conference on Fire Research. The Center for Fire Research (U.S.). 1979. p. 118.
  4. "Push on to solve NY arson case that killed 7 Canadians". The Star. November 24, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  5. "Holiday Inn fire alarm checked by investigators; question if working". Lodi News-Sentinel. Lodi, California. UPI. November 28, 1978. p. 3. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  6. Burgess, John H. (1981). Human factors in built environments. Environmental Design & Research Ctr. p. 78. ISBN   0-915250-38-1.
  7. The Aftermath in the Ashes
  8. Spotting the Flames
  9. Hard Questions
  10. McDermott, Meaghan (November 27, 2010). "Fatal 1978 Holiday Inn fire still frustrates Greece officials". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  11. I-Team 10 investigation: 1978 Holiday Inn fire in Greece
  12. "Police have suspect in deadly 1978 Holiday Inn fire in Greece". Archived from the original on 2014-11-30. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
  13. "40 years after Greece Holiday Inn fatal fire. Investigation stymied by multiple suspects". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-11-21.