Vegas' Monte Carlo fire under control

Ashley Powers

and

Jesus Sanchez

Times Staff Writers

-- A large fire raced across the top of the 32-story Monte Carlo Resort & Casino this morning, sending thick plumes of smoke across the Vegas Strip.

Clark County firefighters had contained most of the blaze about an hour after it was first reported shortly before 11 a.m., according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. Most of the 3,000-room hotel was evacuated and no injuries were reported in the three-alarm blaze.

The cause of the fire that scorched the top of two wings of the high-rise structure has not been determined but welders were seen on the roof, the Review-Journal said.

Guests, some wearing bathrobes and towels, waited in a parking lot after being evacuated from the tower. There was no sense of panic as they were taken to nearby hotels, including New York New York and the Bellagio.

At its peak, flames licked the western-facing exterior of the hotel. The top several floors were damaged, but it was unclear if the rooms were badly burned.

Ashes and chunks of what appeared to be curtains had floated to the ground. Emergency vehicles crowded the streets, which were closed to traffic.

The top floor of the hotel, which opened in 1996, contains numerous luxury suites and penthouses as well as a private lounge for those guests. It was not clear how many guests were staying at the hotel when the fire started.

The most serious fire at a Las Vegas hotel took place on the morning of Nov. 21, 1980, at the former MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Eighty-seven people died from the blaze and almost 800 were injured. It was the deadliest fire in Nevada history and the second deadliest fire in U.S. history.

Most of the deaths were attributed to smoke inhalation.

More than 5,000 people were in the 26-story MGM luxury hotel when the fire broke out. Most of the damage occurred in the casino on the second floor and its adjacent restaurants.

That fire was caused by an electrical ground fault inside a wall soffit. The wiring inside the wall was used to power a refrigeration unit for a food display cabinet in a deli.

Times staff writer Michael Muskal contributed to this report.