Bicentennial Snapshot No. 37: Unsolved Arson Case – The Holiday Inn Fire of 1978

Описание: This week we examine the causes, clues, questions, and the changes surrounding the deadliest fire that the Greece Ridge / Ridge Road Fire Department faced in their 100 years of service to the Greece Community. The Holiday Inn was a total loss due to the extent of the damage it received because of an accelerant that was used in the storage area under the stairwell this caused Greece Police to bring in specialists to help with the investigation one of the men they brought it was a member of ‪@OfficialFDNY‬ John Stickevers, and when he arrived on scene he knew right then and there it was arson. We have a report of what it was like ‪@greecenypolice8907‬ dispatch that evening and what a scene it was at the headquarters at Island Cottage road at that time. It took ‪@ridgeroadfiredistrict9969‬ along with Barnard, North Greece, City of Rochester, with Hilton, Gates, and Spencerport, covering Ridge Ridge and North Greece's districts while the scene at the Holiday Inn unfolded. 34 Injuries occurred at the hotel 17 were firefighters. But ultimately 10 people lost their lives because of smoke inhalation due to the fire, seven of the ten were from Canada, They were: Rubina “Ruth” Cushinan, age 81, and her daughter Ruby Cushinan, age 61, from York, Ontario, Canada; four people from Etobicoke, Ontario, Maguerrette Duncan, age 57, 67-year-old Edward Farley and his 62-year-old wife, Lorene, and Pamela Sagriff, age 30, and from Bramalea, Ontario, Huguette Sundude, age 30. The three remaining guests were Joyce Plumb age 42 from Arlington Virginia who had attended her 25th high school reunion from John Marshall High School the day before; Stephen Gregory Ford, age 29, from Ypsilanti, Michigan who was in Rochester for his best friend’s wedding, and from Pompano Beach, Florida, Nancy Garrett, age 26. This fire brought changes to the local Travel and Tourism scene by 1980 requiring firewalls to go all the way to the roofline, smoke detectors, and sprinklers in every part of the hotel, motel, and other travel and tourism-related buildings, some more information is on the post about the Holiday Inn Fire.


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The Greece Historical Society presents these weekly Bicentennial Snapshots to mark the 200th Anniversary of the founding of the Town of Greece. Each week we feature a particular aspect of the town of Greece's history. Each Bicentennial story will be unique in nature and over the course of the 52 episodes, you will learn about the people and events that comprise the vibrant history of Greece from its earliest days to the present.

Each story is researched, written, and narrated by retired librarian and local historian Maureen Whalen; she has a unique style of storytelling that makes each Bicentennial Snapshot come alive and accessible for everyone to understand.

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