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#Post#: 210--------------------------------------------------
HOTEL FIRES THRU HISTORY...LAS VEGAS
By: wolfie Date: March 7, 2011, 12:24 pm
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Deadly casino fires helped rewrite safety standards
By Mary Manning
Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 | 12:32 p.m.
Hotel fires through history
Fires on the Strip
Palace Station damaged by rain, fire (07-20-1998)
Flames Engulf Under-Construction Observation Tower (08-29-1993)
Killer fire sweeps LV Hilton (02-11-1981)
MGM BURNS (11-22-1980)
Million Dollar Fire Belts Hotel Sahara (11-26-1964)
Nearly Finished Resort Hotel Damaged By Fire (04-07-1955)
Audio Clip
Celebrity Drew Carey talks about the MGM fire
Las Vegas residents and visitors have witnessed plenty of fires
damage and destroy various hotels over the years. Two deadly
blazes in particular, the MGM fire in 1980 and the Hilton fire
in 1981, killed nearly 100 people combined but also helped
reform fire safety codes nationwide. Here's a closer look at
some of Las Vegas' major casino fires:
Jan. 25, 2008 A fire at the Monte Carlo casino-hotel injured
17 people, most suffering from smoke inhalation, and closed the
Strip resort for three weeks. Workers who did not have proper
welding permits accidentally sparked the fire with molten metal
from a hand-held cutting torch, according to Clark County Fire
Department inspectors.
2005 A three-alarm fire at the Aztec Inn, just north of Sahara
Avenue on the Strip, forced the evacuation of the casino and
caused an estimated $200,000 in damages but no injuries. At the
time, it was the third fire that the hotel suffered in several
weeks, but fire investigators did not connect the trio of
blazes.
Feb. 18, 2003 A pre-dawn smoky fire at the Aladdin hotel and
casino, sparked by a lit cigarette in a laundry chute, caused
the evacuation of the 21st and 22nd floors and resulted in six
people being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
2003 The historic Moulin Rouge hotel and casino on West
Bonanza Road burned to the ground in May. It was the first hotel
in Las Vegas where black entertainers who performed on the Strip
could stay. Fred Ball, 45, and John Antwan Caver, 29, were
arrested on arson charges.
July 1998 Fire investigators believed that lightning sparked a
fire that erupted at the Palace Station, after flames blasted
through the 21st floor during a torrential thunderstorm.
1998 The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel reported $1 million in damages
from a fire that forced the evacuation of six floors during a
two-alarm fire, but no one was injured.
1993 - The under-construction Stratosphere Tower catches fire.
1986 Thomas Edward Little Owl, born on a Montana Indian
reservation, was convicted of setting a string of fires at Strip
hotels in early 1986. He was sentenced in December 1986 to 10
years in prison for an arson blaze at the Sands Hotel. He no
longer is imprisoned in Nevada. His whereabouts are unknown.
1981 On Feb. 10 an arson blaze at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel
killed eight people and injured scores more. A busboy lit an
eighth-floor lobby curtain with a marijuana cigarette. Philip
Bruce Cline was convicted of arson and is serving eight life
terms, plus 15 years in state prison.
1980 The second worse hotel blaze in United States history,
the MGM Grand Hotel fire (the worst was at Atlantas Winecoff
Hotel), took 87 lives and injured 700 people. Nevada enacted
statewide regulations protecting high-rise hotels with sprinkler
systems and alarms after the Nov. 21 blaze. (Sun Coverage: MGM
Fire May Mean Billion-Dollar Loss | MGM Nixed Improved Sprinkler
System in 73; Additional Coverage: Burned Into Memory)
1970s A Holiday Inn manager died after falling asleep while
smoking in bed at the Strip resort.
1969 Clark County Fire Capt. Frank Testa suffered a heart
attack while fighting a fire at the Stardust Hotel. Seventeen
others were injured.
Aug. 25, 1964 - A fire that started on the roof of the Sahara
hotel-casino sent gamblers out into the street and caused an
estimated $1 million in damage before firefighters put out the
blaze. A handful of people were treated for smoke inhalation,
including hotel executive Herb McDonald. The fire ignited from a
spark from a welder's torch during the installation of an air
conditioning unit.
1960 The El Rancho Vegas burned to the ground on June 17, as
entertainers Pearl Bailey and Betty Grable fled the flames. The
hotels famous neon-lit windmill toppled in the blaze.
April 7, 1955 - A spectacular fire inflicted heavy damage on one
of the second floor wings of the under construction Moulin Rouge
hotel.
1943 The Meadows Hotel and Casino, built in 1931, burned down
when the Las Vegas Fire Department ignored the alarm, because
the Meadows was outside the city limits, east of Fremont Street
and Charleston Boulevard.
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