Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 1, 1993 TAG: 9303010193
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MOTEL BURNS AS 911 CALL GOES ASTRAY
When he discovered smoke pouring from a closet early Sunday, the manager of the Holiday Inn near Salem dashed to a pay phone and dialed 911.But Roanoke County volunteer firefighters were not notified for nearly 20 minutes because the call - for some unknown reason - went to dispatchers in Roanoke city.
The confusion and delay that followed gave the fire time to spread out of control and eventually destroy the lobby, restaurant and conference rooms. Overnight guests were evacuated without injury to the parking lot, where they waited for firefighters.
The first pumper truck arrived at 3:20 a.m. - nearly 33 minutes after the motel manager dialed 911.
"By the time they got the water going, the fire was going along pretty well," said Peter Beck, a motel guest from Philadelphia.
Firefighters succeeded in preventing the blaze from spreading across a breezeway to the three-story building that houses the motel rooms. But the lobby and restaurant building was a total loss.
Fire Chief Tommy Fuqua said county volunteers were on the scene relatively quickly - within 13 minutes - after they were notified.
Fuqua noted that volunteers had no control over the fact they were not notified for 20 minutes after the fire was reported.
It could take several days to determine why a 911 call from a county motel pay phone went to the city's emergency communications center, he said.
"It's supposed to terminate in Roanoke County," Fuqua said. "Did it screw up because of something in the phone system or because of the fire? We don't know."
Interviews from witnesses and authorities provide the following account of the confused series of events surrounding the Holiday Inn fire:
Akram Habazi,the motel front office manager, was going over nightly financial reports in the restaurant when the lights began to flicker.
Habazi said he went toward the lobby, where he heard a crackling - "it sounded like firecrackers" - coming from a porter's closet.
The switchboard was dead, so Habazi hurried to a pay phone to dial 911.
It was 2:47 a.m.
The call went to the city's emergency communications center, even though the motel, visible from Interstate 81, is located on Skyview Road in Roanoke County.
City dispatchers sent fire units to the Holiday Inn on Franklin Road.
"As far as our units were concerned, it was a false alarm at 2:52," said Ron Wade, the center's coordinator.
What happened next is not exactly clear.
Fuqua said he understands that the city called the county, which in turn dispatched county police officers to all three county Holiday Inns - Tanglewood, Airport and Salem.
At 3:05 a.m., the county received its first report confirming a fire at the Holiday Inn near Salem.
Some 18 minutes had passed since Habazi dialed 911.
The first fire truck arrived at 3:20 a.m. and it took volunteers several more minutes to stretch hoses from a hydrant, located down a steep, snow-covered hill on Skyview Road, Fuqua said.
Some 70 volunteer firefighters working on eight pumpers and two ladder trucks kept the blaze from spreading to the motel rooms.
The Holiday Inn's guests were moved to other motels.
A representative from Krisch Hotels Inc., which owns the motel, said the company would try to reopen the rooms as soon as possible.
\ Chronology of misdirected 911 call\ \ 2:47 a.m. Confusion begins when manager of Holiday Inn in county dials 911 and\ reaches dispatchers in Roanoke city.\ \ 2:52 a.m. City firefighters report false alarm at Holiday Inn on Franklin Road.\ \ 3:05 a.m. Roanoke County dispatchers finally learn of fire at Holiday Inn on\ Skyview Road.\ \ 3:20 a.m. First unit reaches Holiday Inn.\ \ Source: Tommy Fuqua, county fire chief; Ron Wade, city emergency communications center director