1978 Holiday Inn fire

The 1978 Holiday Inn Fire broke out at the Holiday Inn-Northwest which was located at 1525 West Ridge Road in the Town of Greece, near Rochester, New York on November 26, 1978 and killed ten people.[1][2] Seven of the fatalities were Canadian;[3] 88 Canadians were staying in the hotel at the time on a holiday shopping trip.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][4] In the end 10 people were killed and 34 injured. In 2008, the NFPA listed the 1978 Holiday Inn Fire as one of only three dozen or so fires which killed 10 or more people in the United States between 1934 and 2006.[2]

Contents

Background

The building was built in 1963 at a cost of $1.3 million, and 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 realise it was the emergency alarm bell.[6] The fire was not reported to the fire department until 2:38 am when an off duty firefighter passing by reported it.[4]

Investigation

Initially the police did not consider the fire suspicious. An expert fire investigator was brought in from New York City to assist with the investigation. He discovered that an uncommon highly flammable accelerent was used to start the fire in the form of a liquid which was ignited inside a storage cupboard under the first floor stairwell.[7] The fire was officially ruled as an arson attack. No one was ever charged with this crime. The case remains open today. In early 2011, the Greece Police Department launched the most intensive investigation of the fire in the last thirty years.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Fire command, Volume 46. National Fire Protection Association. 1979. 
  2. ^ a b "Summary of Fire Incidents 1934-2006 in Hotel Fires in the United States as Reported to the NFPA, with Ten or more Fatalities". National Fire Protection Association. January 2008. http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/press%20room/hotelfirefatalitiesreport.pdf. Retrieved December 3, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Push on to solve NY arson case that killed 7 Canadians". The Star. November 24, 2010. http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/896424--push-on-to-solve-ny-arson-case-that-killed-7-canadians. Retrieved December 3, 2010. 
  4. ^ a b Annual Conference on Fire Research. The Center for Fire Research (U.S.). 1979. p. 118. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TQ6FAAAAIAAJ&q=Holiday+Inn+Fire+1978,+Greece,+New+York&dq=Holiday+Inn+Fire+1978,+Greece,+New+York&hl=en&ei=vGT5TIjeMcrAhAe4mLWCCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ. 
  5. ^ "Holiday Inn fire alarm checked by investigators; question if working". Lodi News-Sentinel. UPI (Lodi, California): p. 3. November 28, 1978. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VeAzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lDIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=6761%2C2981329. 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. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WoNTkA6ANQUC&pg=PA78&dq=Holiday+Inn+Fire+1978&hl=en&ei=NWf5TOOLL9GLhQfg67C0CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Holiday%20Inn%20Fire%201978&f=false. 
  7. ^ McDermott, Meaghan (November 27, 2010). "Fatal 1978 Holiday Inn fire still frustrates Greece officials". Democrat and Chronicle. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20101127/NEWS01/11270320/1003/Fatal-1978-Holiday-Inn-fire-still-frustrates-Greece-officials?GID=sMjSbX+bKMOF7X%2FG3VAlhVk6jmmB9wkyhRyxNPgd4Bw%3D. Retrieved December 3, 2010. 
  8. ^ I-Team 10 investigation: 1978 Holiday Inn fire in Greece
Mass casualty hotel fires
1940–1969
1970–1979
1980–1989
1990–1999
2000–2009
Notes