On the morning of November 21, 1980, at approximately 07:10 PST, a fire broke out in a delicatessen at what was then the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, a world-famous, 26-story luxury resort with over 2,000 hotel rooms. The event remains the worst disaster in Nevada history.
About 5,000 people were in the hotel and casino at the time of the fire. Smoke and fire spread through the building killing 84 people and injuring 785, including tourists and employees. There were 87 deaths in total, including three which occurred later as a result of injuries sustained in the fire. Most fire damage occurred in the casino on the second floor and its adjacent restaurants, although most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation on the upper floors of the hotel. Openings in vertical shafts (elevators and stairwells) and seismic joints acted as chimneys and spread the smoke and heat all the way through the 26th floor.
If firefighters had not extinguished the blaze when they did, the building probably would have burned to the ground. As it was, the fire was considered to have been the second-worst hotel fire in modern U.S. history. It is interesting to note that in this fire, NFPA studies show that occupants did not exhibit panic behavior. Instead, many acted altruistically and took rational steps to preserve their lives. Examples of this include putting towels around doors (to block out smoke), notifying other occupants, offering refuge in their room, and using wet towels for their face.
According to the official report by the Clark County Fire Department, the cause of the fire was an improperly grounded electrical wire. The fire smoldered for hours before breaking out, flashing through the casino area. Only a minor fraction of the hotel had been fitted with a sprinkler system which was not legally required for buildings built before 1979; the MGM Grand had opened in 1973. Guests only learned of the fire upon actually seeing smoke or hearing other guests warn them; the hotel's alarm system was destroyed before fire alarms could activate. Eventually $223 million USD in legal settlements were paid out as a result of the disaster.
The MGM Grand was repaired and then sold to Bally's Entertainment which changed the name to "Bally's Las Vegas." Subsequently, the present MGM Grand hotel-casino was built about a mile south at the northeast corner of the Las Vegas Strip and Tropicana Avenue.
Numerous legends hold that many of the dead were found still sitting at slot machines, having refused to leave the machines. Documentation from the investigation do not support these stories.
References
Bryan, John (1992). Human Behavior and Fire. In Arthur Cote (ed.) NFPA Handbook, Section 7, Chapter 1. Quincy MA: NFPA. ISBN 0-87765-378-X
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