1978 — Nov 26, Fire (arson?), Holiday Inn Northwest, Ridge Road, Greece, NY — 10

–10 Craig & McDermott. “40 years after Greece Holiday Inn fatal fire…” Democrat, 2-4-2019.
–10 Demers, David P. “Ten Die in Greece, New York Hotel Fire.” Fire Journal, July 1979, p25.
–10 Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY. “Greece Holiday Inn fatal fire…” 2-4-2019.
–10 Greenpeace. PVC Fires List. “Cambridge, Ohio.” June 1994.
–10 Jones, Jon C. A Brief Look At The Hotel Fire Record.” Fire Journal, May 1981, p. 41.
–10 UPI. “Rochester-area Fire Kills 10.” Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, 11-27-1978, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Demers: “On Sunday, November 26, 1978, a fire that was most likely incendiary in origin occurred at the Holiday Inn – Northwest in Greece, New York, a suburb of Rochester with a population of 90,000. The fire resulted in the deaths of 10 occupants of the hotel and gained widespread media attention.

“The primary factors that led to the fatalities in this fire were the combination of the highly combustible interior finish in an exit stairway, unprotected openings in the stairway, and inadequate alerting of occupants. Extensive rescue efforts by fire fighters prevented a much larger loss of life….

“Openings into the three-story west wind were ‘protected’ by Class B labeled, 1½-hour fire doors with closers. Installed on these fire doors were kick-down type doorstops. The doors at the first and second stories (the top two stories) appeared to have been blocked open at the time of the fire…The openings into the two-story passageway from the stairway to the north wing were not protected in any way….

“The building had no emergency lighting….

“Investigating authorities determined that this fire was incendiary in origin. The area of fire origin was at the base of the central stairway, adjacent to the combustible storage closet. ….

“As the fire developed, the products of combustion would initially have traveled upward and through the unprotected openings in the stairway into the north wing by way of the passageway, and directly into the west wing because of the blocked-open fire doors. The plain glass windows in the stairway and passageway failed, providing oxygen to fan the already well-established fire….”

Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester NY. “Greece Holiday Inn fatal fire…” 2-4-2019:
“As the 40th anniversary of the deadly Holiday Inn fire in Greece approaches — a horrific inferno that claimed 10 lives — the investigation remains stalled because of unusual twists: authorities can’t say with certainty how the fire started, and, if even if it were, there have been multiple suspects for the crime.

“November 26, 2:38 AM:

“Off-duty Greece firefighter Harold “Bud” Phillips uses his two-way car radio to notify the Greece-Ridge Fire Department of a fire at the 91-room Holiday Inn Northwest at 1525 W. Ridge Road. Phillips spotted the flames as he was driving past on his way home from a moonlighting job as a security guard. Also among those first to the scene: Francis Neidert of Albion, former chief of the Albion Fire Department. He too spotted flames from the building on his way past, heading home from his job as a foreman at Eastman Kodak Co.

“….One hundred and twenty-five firefighters from six area fire companies responded. About 170 people were rescued from the building by firefighters and passers-by. Neidert was credited with helping at least 8 to 10 people escape from the motel’s second floor. ‘It was just totally unbelievable,’ he said at the time. ‘I’ve been a volunteer fireman for 27 years, and I’ve never seen fire move as fast as it did there. The flames were hissing, they moved so fast.’

“….Investigators said the fire broke windows in the hallways connecting the motel’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.

“….five bodies were found jammed against a doorway in a third-floor hallway, three other motel guests were found dead inside their rooms. One was charred beyond recognition and required dental records to identify. Guests had included 100 Canadians on a tour from Toronto and Hamilton. Eight of the dead were Canadian. The medical examiner said the cause of death for all killed that night was smoke inhalation.

“Injured firefighter Michael Zodarecky said at the time that ‘the smoke was just tremendous. You would look in windows for people, but you couldn’t see inside. Sometimes you couldn’t see people screaming from the upper floors.’

“November 27, 1978. Hard questions

“Questions arose about whether or not the fire alarms could be heard in the lobby of the Holiday Inn 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:

• There were no smoke detectors
• There was no sprinkler system
• The alarm system wasn’t connected to the Greece-Ridge Fire Department of other security agency.
• There was only one vertical fire wall between the two wings
• The alarm system consisted only of one bell in the middle of each of the two wings’ five floors.
….
“November 30, 1978. Evidence points to arson:

“Greece Police Chief Gerald Phelan announces the fire was ruled an arson. However, he said, investigators were still looking into the manner in which the fire was set. And he said there were no suspects in the blaze….

“January 1979. Safety violations cited:

“Holiday Inns Inc. contests fines and fire safety violations cited by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration related to the Nov. 26 fire. The federal agency fined the company $4,480 for seven “serious fire safety violations” and said the violations aided the rapid spread of the fire and failed to provide “safe access” for the hotel’s guests at the time of the fire….

“April 1979. Faulty design?

“The designer of the Holiday Inn Northwest says the fire would have been contained to just one room if builders in 1963 had followed his plans and added room partitions that extended to the roof of the hotel….

“May 1979. Investigation report released:

“The National Fire Protection Association releases its report on the Nov. 26 fire. It cites numerous design problems with the building, saying they contributed to the quick spread of the blaze. ‘Primary factors leading to the fatalities’ included highly combustible interior finishes, unprotected openings in the stairway and inadequate alerting of occupants. The report says the hotel’s fire alarm was likely activated early on during the fire, but with just one bell per corridor, the alarm wasn’t heard or recognized as a fire alarm by the hotel guests….

“2011. Documentary identifies ‘person of interest’:

“Canadian television investigative newsmagazine 16:9 The Bigger Picture runs a segment on the fire, naming Harold Philips, now Chief of the Ridge Road Fire District, is a ‘person of interest’ in the case. Phillips releases a statement calling the insinuations bunk. ‘I had no involvement with this fire and have nothing to hide,’ he said.

“For the first time, police officials say they believe the accelerant used in the fire was the solvent methyl ethyl ketone, or MEK….

“October 31, 2013. Search warrant:

“In connection with the investigation, Greece police serve a search warrant at the Long Pond Road headquarters of the Ridge Road Fire District. They are there for hours, searching through offices. Officials say investigators are looking for documents, but will not specify the nature of the documents….”

Newspaper (at the time)

Nov 27 (UPI), Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, “Rochester-area Fire Kills 10.” 11-27-1978, p1:
“Greece (UPI) – Fire early Sunday [Nov 26] tore through a suburban Holiday Inn jammed with Thanksgiving guests and celebrants attending a singles dance, leaving at least 10 persons dead and 25 others injured.

“By Sunday night, authorities were able to account for 13 persons they had previously listed as missing. Most of them had gone to the homes of relatives or friends when they were evacuated at the start of the fire, officials said.

“Fire officials said they were trying to determine whether a fire alarm inside the three-story hotel in the Rochester suburb sounded at the time of the blaze. ‘The hotel was equipped with a local alarm pull, somebody had to physically pull the alarm box,’ noted Fire Chief Kenneth Volkmar. ‘Some people said the alarm was ringing for some time. But we never did get a phone call.

“Guests who escaped the flames claimed they did not hear an alarm. ‘Somebody banged on our door at about 2:45 a.m. and yelled ‘There’s a fire,’ recalled Ann Hamelin, of Hamilton, Ont., who was part of a group of Canadians staying at the 15-year-old hotel during a 48-hour shopping spree. ‘It was terrible. Why didn’t we have a warning?’ she asked. ‘Why wasn’t there an alarm system?’

“Authorities were unable to obtain an exact count of guests, but hotel officials said up to 200 guests had been registered and scores of other persons had lingered after a singles dance that ended shortly before the fire broke out.

“Fire Lt. Bud Phillips, off duty and on his way to a moonlighting job as a guard, first discovered the flames shooting from the 91-room hotel shortly after 2:30 a.m. ‘There was nothing but screaming. A few people were yelling for help, but mostly it was just screams,’ he said. ‘I though probably several persons would be killed, but I never thought it would be this bad.’

“Chief Volkmar at first said some of the hotel’s frightened guests jumped to their deaths, but officials later said all 10 persons, eight women and two men, were apparently the victims of smoke inhalation….

“Town Supervisor Donald Riley said the death toll was the worst fire-related tragedy in the town’s history.

“The masonry motel, taken over by Holiday Inn from Schrafft’s in 1968, was fully booked for the Thanksgiving weekend.

“Volkmar said cause of the blaze was undetermined, but arson had not been ruled out.

“Lt. Phillips said the flames appeared to have started in a corner stairwell between the second and third floors of the ‘L’ shaped structure. By the time the first firemen arrived, the building was engulfed in flames.

“Firefighters, hampered by temperatures in the 20s and winds gusting up to 25 mph, battled the stubborn blaze for more than two hours.

“Volkmar said the department had trouble ‘simply because we had to deal with the rescue operations before we could even start fighting the fire.’….”

Nov 28, UPI, “Firemen, Guests Heard No Alarm.” Syracuse Post Standard, 11-28-1978, p.3:
“Rochester (UPI) – Holiday Inn and fire department officials Monday disputed whether an alarm system in a 15-year-old Holiday Inn was working when a blaze killed 10 guests and injured 34 persons. Firemen said the in-house bell alarm, not connected to any central alarm system in suburban Greece, was not ringing when they arrived early Sunday at the 91-room, three-story hotel. Holiday Inn officials said it rang. Some of the hotel’s 200 guests and others attending a holiday singles dance also claimed they did not hear the alarm.

“The hotel had passed a fire inspection Nov. 8, but it was wrapped in flames when firefighters arrived….

“Officials said five of the victims were discovered on the second floor, about 19 feet from an exit.”

Sources

Craig, Gary and Meaghan M. McDermott. “40 years after Greece Holiday Inn fatal fire. Investigation stymied by multiple suspects” Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, NY. 2-4-2019, updated 2-4-2019. Accessed 6-13-2021 at: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/11/20/holiday-inn-fire-greece-ny-1978-fatal-arson-bud-phillips/2064481002/

Demers, David P. “Ten Die in Greece, New York Hotel Fire.” Fire Journal, Vol. 73, No. 4, July 1979, pp. 25-29. Boston: National Fire Protection Association.

Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY. “Greece Holiday Inn fatal fire: Timeline of a 1978 tragedy.” 11-20-2018, updated 2-4-2019. Accessed 6-13-2021 at: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/11/20/greece-ny-holiday-inn-fatal-fire-timeline-tragedy-rochester/2069288002/

Greenpeace. PVC Fires List. June 1994. Accessed 7-20-2017 at: http://pvcinformation.org/assets/pdf/PVC_FiresList.pdf

Jones, Jon C. A Brief Look At The Hotel Fire Record.” Fire Journal, May 1981, pp. 38-41. Boston: National Fire Protection Association.

United Press International, “Firemen, Guests Heard No Alarm.” Syracuse Post Standard, 11-28-1978, p.3. Accessed 6-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-post-standard-nov-28-1978-p-3/

United Press International. “Rochester-area Fire Kills 10. 25 Injured in Holiday Inn Blaze.” The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, 11-27-1978, p. 1. Accessed 6-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-post-standard-nov-27-1978-p-1/