Video: In 10 minutes, massive fire decimated historic Belvedere Hotel
It took only about 10 minutes for a massive fire to engulf the four-story Belvedere Hotel late Tuesday, according to the fire chief on the scene and a surveillance video from Naser Foods across the street.
Firefighters on their way to the station could see that the blaze started behind the front door of the nearly 115-year-old hotel, said Don Polka, chief of the Oklahoma Volunteer Fire Department.
The origin of the fire is suspicious in the vacant hotel where none of the utilities were on, Polka said. Additionally, there’s been a history of trespassers visiting the dilapidated but architecturally intriguing structure, Polka and other officials said.
The state police fire marshal in Greensburg continues to investigate the cause, Trooper Steve Limani said.
Since he’s been chief, Polka said, there’s always been a plan in place to extinguish a fire in a building as large as the Belvedere.
“Everybody knew what they were doing, we were ready to roll and it went well,” he said.
There still wasn’t much to save as the building was engulfed by the time firefighters arrived, Polka said.
Vandergrift had its fire department stationed above the hotel on Hancock Avenue hosing down trees and hitting the top of the hotel, preventing embers from flying up, Polka said.
“Other than it being very hot, it was a pretty major fire because of the age of the building and all of the wood,” he said.
There were as many as four and five streams of water on the blaze, Polka said.
“We slowed it down but it pretty much burned up,” he said.
Water pressure waned and tanker trucks supplemented the fight, but water availability wasn’t a big factor, Polka said.
“You could have had 10 fire hydrants and all the water in the world and it would not have made a difference,” Polka said. “It was well on its way when we got there.”
Surveillance video from Naser Foods across Route 66 captured the swiftness of the fire and motorists stopping by to take photos.
The mood was somber among residents who stopped at the store Wednesday, grocery manager Brandon Rainelli said.
“That building has been there all these years,” he said.
Although there were plans to raze the aging hotel, residents weren’t ready to lose the local landmark just like that.
“People are sad, and it is kind of despicable if it was caused by arson,” Rainelli said.
State police are reviewing Naser’s surveillance footage, he added.
Assisting Oklahoma were Vandergrift No. 1 and No. 2 volunteer fire departments, Washington Township Volunteer Fire Company, Apollo Hose Company Nos. 2 and 3, North Apollo Volunteer Fire Department, Kiski Township Fire Department and tankers from fire departments in Parks Township, Gilpin and Burrell Township.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.