TRAVEL NEWS & TIPS
A history of U.S. hotel fires, in Las Vegas & beyond
Las Vegas and, indeed, the hotel industry are no strangers to the tragedies of fires, although the number of fatalities has diminished significantly in recent years, thanks to greater safety precautions.
In November 1980, a fire broke out in Las Vegas' 26-story MGM Grand (now Bally's) that turned the hotel into a chimney of deadly carbon monoxide. At least 80 people were killed, as many as 60 dying of carbon monoxide poisoning instead of flames. The fire was caused by an electrical ground fault. Inspectors later found numerous building code violations.
Less than three months later, a fire at the Las Vegas Hilton, started by a bus boy, killed eight people and injured more than 190 in the 30-story resort. Philip Cline, who reported the fire, was ultimately arrested and charged with homicide. He received eight life terms without the possibility of parole.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, a blaze on New Year's Eve 1986 killed 96 people in the DuPont Plaza Hotel. The cause of that fire was arson; none of the guest rooms reportedly contained sprinklers.
The Winecoff Hotel, which opened in 1913, suffered one of the worst fires in modern times. In 1946, the Atlanta hotel caught fire, and 119 people died in the 3 a.m. blaze that engulfed the 16-story structure. The hotel had been advertised as fireproof, although it had no sprinklers or fire alarms.
The deadly Nevada fires created a groundswell of support for sprinkler systems and alarms in recent years, and officials credit those devices with the reduction in fatal blazes.
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