Crews say fire at the former Riverside Hotel on Main Street took nearly four hours to fight
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Firefighters said the fire at the former Riverside Hotel on Main Street took nearly four hours to fight.
The Rochester Fire Department said they got called around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday about smoke coming out of the building.
The fire reportedly spread through pipe chases into a storage closet in an upstairs banquet room. RFD told us more than 55 firefighters were on the scene. They also told us it’s the second fire they’ve fought in that area.
“The building has been vacant for about five years, we’ve had a couple incidents here off and on with vandalism and small fires, this was a larger fire. We’re fighting the fire on multiple floors,” said Jeff Hartman, the RPD Executive Deputy Chief.
Crews are on the scene of a two-alarm fire in downtown rochester. It's at the old Radisson Hotel.
“…Earlier this evening there was a fire in a building across the street that was also vacant,” he said. “…We don’t know if the two are related they are suspiciously similar and right across the street from one another.”
The deputy chief also told us the building’s vacant status and lack of power created a hazard for firefighters.