http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/monte_carlo_casino_fire Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:20:54 -0800 pixel-app en http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/13800 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/13800 Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas—which destroyed a large section of the roof-top and required full evacuation of its 5,000 guests and 900 workers—was caused by flying molten metal emanating from a hand-held cutting torch used by workers who did not have proper permits or training, fire officials said Thursday.  The workers were cutting corrugated steel in order to set up window-washing equipment Friday at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas strip; however, they did not use proper mats to protect the roof, the Clark County Fire Department said.

The melting steel sparked a fire on the southwest corner of the main facade of the roof of the 3,002-room, 32-story Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino on Friday morning.  The flames rapidly spread, burning through a foam-like material on the façade of the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino. When the fire reached the foam, sections melted off, streaming flaming debris on the Las Vegas Strip, causing small fires on the buildings’ lower sections.  While there were no fatalities, 17 people were injured and taken to area hospitals with most injuries resulting from smoke inhalation or fleeing.

About 120 fire fighters contained the three-alarm fire; construction workers using four hand-held extinguishers failed to put the blaze out.  Because fire ladders were unable to reach the roof of a 32-story building, crews fought the fire from the hotel’s windows.

According to Deputy Fire Chief Girard Page, if the contracting company—Union Erectors, LLC—had gone through the appropriate channels and applied for a permit, it would have been advised on how to perform the work safely and likely been approved in four to five weeks.  "It does take time and effort, but it's not that difficult," Page added.  Officials are reviewing whether to cite Union Erectors, which could result in fines of $1,000 and up to six months in jail per citation, a misdemeanor.

The Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino remained closed Thursday and casino operator MGM Mirage Inc. confirmed that the paperwork for the metal work that caused the fire "did not meet our corporate standards" and said in a statement that the situation was "being immediately addressed."  Meanwhile, Union Erectors had only a county permit to install window-washing equipment and did not have paperwork allowing them to work with torches.

The fire at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino was the first of two roof fires within a week at U.S. gambling resorts.  A fire on Tuesday at the Great Cedar Hotel at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CN.,  injured none but forced guests to evacuate.  In that fire, a device meant to keep pipes from freezing malfunctioned.

The Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino opened June 1996 and is on the Las Vegas Strip not far from the scene of Nevada's deadliest fire when, in November 1980, a blaze killed 87 people at the old MGM Grand hotel and led to strict fire codes in Las Vegas resorts.

]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/monte_carlo_casino_fire Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/monte_carlo_casino_fire 17 Injured At Monte Carlo Casino Fire In Vegas
Cause: 'Nothing Ruled Out' LAS VEGAS -- Guests and gamblers fled a smoky rooftop fire at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino Friday as flaming embers rained down on the Las Vegas Strip below.

It took firefighters about an hour to control the three-alarm blaze at the 32-story hotel.

Clark County Fire Chief Steve Smith said there were no major injuries. An ambulance company spokeswoman said 17 people were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, mostly from inhaling smoke or from fleeing the building.

None of the 120 firefighters who fought the blaze were hurt. "It could have been very serious," Smith said. "Due to the aggressive firefighting tactics of our personnel we were able to contain it."

He said it was too early to assess damages or say what caused the fire, which began just before 11 a.m. There was no immediate indication of criminal activity or arson, but investigators were looking at all possible causes, he said.

"Nothing is ruled out at this time," Smith said.

Orange flames licked at the hotel's sign and plumes of thick black smoke poured from the rooftop of the resort. Tourists and residents watched the high-rise fire nervously, perhaps remembering the deadly fire nearly 30 years earlier at what was then the MGM Grand hotel.

Smith called the Monte Carlo blaze an exterior fire, which was largely confined to the rooftop and the facade of the upper floors.

The facade was made of a foam material that "melted off the side of the building and started a few fires below," Smith said.

Some rooms were damaged when firefighters knocked out hotel room windows, and flames and smoke from outside rushed in, Smith said.

Heat and smoke may have set off alarms and sprinklers inside the building, Smith said.

He said the blaze was fought from inside the building, not with ladder trucks.

The fire, spread from the center section of the hotel across the roof line.

Clark County spokesman Eric Pappa said county officials were told welders were working on the roof of the building before the fire, but reports of workers trapped on the roof were incorrect.

Floors 25 to 32 were immediately evacuated, and lower parts of the hotel were still being cleared about 90 minutes later.

"We've gone door to door evacuating the hotel," said Gordon Absher, spokesman for the hotel owner, MGM Mirage Inc. "The casino is closed and secured."

Larry Wappel, 25, of San Pierre, Ind., said he and his brother, Eric Wappel, were in a room on the 30th floor when they heard housekeeping staff banging on doors and yelling "Fire, get out!"

He said it took about 10 minutes to walk single-file down the stairs to get to ground level.

Wappel said there was no panic. "There were a couple of ladies crying, but it was pretty calm," he said.

Another guest, Renza Badilla, 45, said she exited through the hotel kitchen to find burning debris and embers falling from the roof.

"I think people were shocked when they saw the smoke," said Badilla, who said she was in the buffet on the main casino level when fire alarms sounded.

"We thought the fire alarms were just drills. But the wait staff and kitchen staff were really helpful getting us out through the kitchen," she said.

Guests were taken to the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and employees were evacuated to the adjacent New York-New York hotel, Absher said. Hotel officials said guests would be moved to other MGM Mirage hotels in Las Vegas. They estimated the hotel was almost full and about 900 workers were on duty when the fire began.

As the fire burned, huge crowds formed on the Las Vegas Strip, and traffic was gridlocked as streets were blocked off around the hotel. Helicopters circled overhead.

The nearby resorts, Bellagio and New York New York were not evacuated.

The Monte Carlo Resort & Casino, with 3,002 guest rooms and 211 suites in its upper floors, is on Las Vegas Boulevard, near Tropicana Avenue.

The hotel, modeled after the Place du Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco, was a joint venture between Steve Wynn's Mirage Resorts and Circus Circus Enterprises when it opened in June 1996.

It is now owned by MGM Mirage Inc. and is planned to be linked by a monorail that will connect it to the CityCenter casino complex and Bellagio to the north.

The Monte Carlo is down the street from the scene of Nevada's deadliest fire, a Nov. 21, 1980, blaze that killed 87 people at the old MGM Grand hotel and led to strict fire codes in Las Vegas resorts.

That hotel was rebuilt and sold in 1985 and renamed Bally's. It is now owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. The cause of the deadly fire was traced to an electrical malfunction in a refrigerated pastry case in the hotel deli.]]>