State police: Iconic Borscht Belt hotels devastated by fires have history of trespassers and ‘ghost hunters’
State police have released new information on the investigations into four separate fires at abandoned, iconic hotels in the Catskills after a devastating blaze last week at the Nevele Grand Hotel in the Town of Wawarsing.
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State police have released new information on the investigations into four separate fires at abandoned, iconic hotels in the Catskills after a devastating blaze last week at the Nevele Grand Hotel in the Town of Wawarsing.
The fire at the hotel’s “Winter Building” follows three other blazes at Borcht Belt hotels in less than two years – including at the Pines Resort Hotel in Fallsburg last June, the Homowack Lodge in Wurtsboro in July and Grossinger’s Resort Hotel in Liberty in Aug. 2022.
Authorities say several of the abandoned hotels have a documented history of trespassers and “ghost hunters” – and that the Homowack Lodge property, which officials say is not secured or cared for, has a history of reported campfires and signs of small fires.
No criminality was found to be involved in the blaze at the Pines Hotel, according to state police. Officials say the cases involving the Homowack Lodge and Grossinger’s Hotel were closed because of a lack of leads.
News 12 was on the Nevele grounds on Wednesday following the fire when a fence was being installed at the property entrance to prevent trespassing. The incident remains under investigation, according to police.
