HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - We told you a Hampden-based company had their commercial cooking exhaust hood cleaner’s license suspended following an investigation into a fire at Holyoke Mall.

You might remember the 3-alarm fire on February 18th that took hours to put out. It began in ductwork at the mall after sparks from work in the area ignited built-up grease in the exhaust ducts.

A joint investigation by state and local fire officials found that Gorecki and Sons allegedly failed to properly clean ductwork of grease, failed to document the work accurately, and failed to notify the property owner of any inaccessible, unclean, non-compliant areas. Gorecki and Sons provided us with a statement that reads:

“I would like the opportunity to respond to the allegations on the recent report regarding Gorecki & Sons’ involvement in the Holyoke Mall Fire.

Gorecki & Sons explicitly informed on-site representatives, including the Holyoke Fire Department, that critical sections of the ductwork could not be accessed for cleaning due to the absence of access panels. This was identified and communicated prior to the fire and was known on site.

Despite this documented limitation, reporting has wrongly framed the situation in a way that suggests negligence on the part of Gorecki & Sons, while failing to account for the actual site conditions and the scope restrictions that were clearly disclosed in advance to the Holyoke Fire Department.

It is also important to recognize that multiple contractors and job sites were occurring in the same area at this time, and the full sequence of events has not yet been publicly recognized. But most importantly the AHJ was present from start to finish, the AHJ being the Holyoke Fire Department.

Gorecki & Sons acted in good faith, within the constraints of the site conditions, and in full transparency expressed concern with the access limitations that directly impacted the scope of work.

I’m fully cooperating with the investigation. However, I expect reporting to reflect the complete factual record.”

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