The 1978 Holiday Inn fire broke out at a Holiday Inn

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

located at 1525 West Ridge Road in the town of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States, on November 26, 1978. The fire was considered notable enough by the

National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...

(NFPA) and the Center for Fire Research to document the fire in their 1979 publications. In the end, ten people were killed and 34 injured; seven of the fatalities were Canadian nationals. 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.

Fire

The Holiday Inn in Greece, New York, was built in 1963 at a cost of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

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. 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. 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. The fire was not reported to the Greece-

Ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

Fire Department until 2:38 am, when an off-duty firefighter passing by the hotel reported it. 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. 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 detector A smoke detector is a device that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Smoke detectors are usually housed in plastic enclosures, typically shaped like a disk about in diameter and thick, but shape and size vary. Smoke can be detecte ...

s 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. John Stickevers, a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

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. The fire was officially ruled as an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

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. On November 26, 2014, police announced that they have identified a suspect for the first time, 36 years after the fire. 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 Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

on which suspect is responsible and over proof of arson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday Inn Fire 1978 1978 Holiday Inn fire Holiday Inn Fire, 1978 Holiday Inn Fire, 1978 Attacks on hotels in the United States Hotel fires in the United States Attacks in the United States in 1978 Monroe County, New York Arson in New York (state) Mass murder in 1978 November 1978 events in the United States Mass murder in New York (state) Unsolved mass murders in the United States Building and structure collapses in New York Building and structure collapses caused by fire 1978 murders in the United States 1970s crimes in New York (state) Mass murder in the United States in the 1970s Attacks on buildings and structures in 1978 Attacks on buildings and structures in New York (state) 20th-century building and structure collapses Canadian people murdered abroad Canada–United States relations

Fire

Investigation

See also

References