The Disaster Las Vegas Wants to Forget
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2023
- The in-depth story of the MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas Fire 1980.
As the dawn rises above the Las Vegas skyline, Randy Howard, a guest at the MGM Grand Hotel, sleeps off the after-effects of a night indulging in the city's infamous delights. He is abruptly roused by a clamor outside his room and a chorus of sirens on the street. Unbeknownst to him and almost all other guests, a deadly fire is tearing through the hotel. As he comes to his senses, he realizes he’s in a deadly trap. The smoke fills the corridors, and wherever he tries to escape, he bumps into a dead end. There’s nothing he can do except pray for a miracle..
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$192,000 for an updated fire alarm system vs $50,000,000 to reconstruct the hotel after the fire. Pretty much the definition of “penny wise and dollar foolish.”
Rebuilding the hotel is paid for mostly by insurance. Why have it if you don't use it etc
Easiest way to improve, upgrade and totally rebuild a Vegas hotel is insurance claim
Don’t forget the billions paid out in lawsuits and what you have is the definition of Stupid!!!
It's called GREED!
@@RT-qd8yl actually they only got 120 of the 500 million becuase their insurance was inadequate (like everything else).
The really aggravating part of the whole thing was MGM and so many other hotels and casinos in Vegas fought against the updates AFTER the fire, saying it would be too expensive. Almost exactly a week after MGM, a fire at the Las Vegas Hilton killed another 8 people. After that, the arguments were null and void, and the city said, "Nope, fix it." It took TWO fires, not one, to finally bring everything up to code.
ETA: A few people have mentioned it was actually a few months later, not a week. Still stupid it wasn't changed right away.
This is asinine 😮 doesn’t surprise me one bit though
Yep, being a Vegas native I remember all that very well, I was 16 years old watching the MGM fire in person and then soon afterwards I was watching the Hilton fire in person and being quiet stunned that those two events happened so close in time together.
I remember a friend calling me from out of town right after the MGM fire telling me she would never come to Vegas, my reply to her was “The odds of another hotel fire happening in Vegas again are Zero” she called me back right after the Hilton fire and questioned my “Zero odds” comment.
INSANE! infuriating! with all that money one would think money is not a issue - CHEAP ASSES
@@BassedInVegas hope she arrived anyway and won a jackpot with "zero odds"
Almost like casino are dirt bags and you should learn card counting and take their money
My grandmother died in this fire when I was 8. At the time, she was a housekeeper and was terrified of fires. My grandmother hid in a closet and died from smoke inhalation. Sometimes I look at the victims list on the internet to see her name and this is crazy that this video is in my feed.😞 May you continue to RIP grandma Willie!❤️
I’m sorry about your grandmother , I’m sure she was a wonderful lady.
@@sharonhemmeter Thank you and yes she was!
Sorry to hear that, im sure she is watching you from heaven🙌🏽 god bless her
I'm so sorry you lost your grandma in this way. I'm sorry she died in fear and hope she is at peace now.
Very sorry for your loss
Props to the Construction worker who came to help. Not all heroes wear capes
Actually, none of them do(wear capes!)!!!🙏😢⚖️🤔🔥
some wear reflective vests.
@@mauricedavis2160Not All Heroes Wear Capes is a catchphrase used to describe everyday people who do good deeds, indicating that people in reality, rather than fictitious superheroes, are capable of courageous behavior.
So it needs no correction from you🙄.
@@ydcee3123 👌Got it, thank you!!!👻❣️
I wear capes.
My parents were in this fire. Incredible story, and miraculously, they survived. They were very very lucky. As am I to still have them.
MIne were too, but they did not survive. They were among the victims found on the 21st floor. 42 years and I still miss them terribly.
@@bigbigjoel9710 Oh, God. I'm so sorry.
My dad was a fireman at the station directly across the street- glad your parents got out alive.
@@bigbigjoel9710That is horrible. I am very, very sorry for your loss
No they were not lmao
I'm both impressed and outraged that so many different people jumped into action to save people, yet the casino itself did NOTHING.
It is a casino what do you expect? 🤷♂️
capitalists care about assets, not people.
Las Vegas is nicknamed, SIN city for a reason.
the priority of all casinos are to save their money/chips first before their guests and employees..
@@joaoantonio1279 capitalism in action: assets trump employees.
so crazy how like 99% of fire disasters are like "this could have been stopped with sprinklers"
It’s very true
John Pelletier was named chief of the the Maui Police Department in 2021 after more than two decades working in Las Vegas. On Oct. 1, 2017, Pelletier was the incident commander covering the Strip when a gunman unleashed a hail of bullets on a country music festival, slaughtering 58 people and injuring 500+.(worst us shooting)
now is involved in the US worst fire in over a centurie
How do yall let this mf do another massacre
"but sprinklers are ExPeNsIvE" - corporate landlords
And maybe not smoking
I've gone to Vegas many times over the years. The city certainly has a dark history. It's just covered up by bright lights and attractions. I wasn't even around yet when this horrible event occurred but one time in Vegas I took a cab and the driver was like a tour guide. She knew everything historically and currently going on there. She was so much fun to talk to I asked her to give me the scenic route, good and bad. I learned a lot and I ran up the largest taxi fare I've ever had. Totally worth it. I've since thought of Vegas as one of the greatest and one of the worst places in our country.
It’s a paradox, so many terrible things but so many great things
@@Tommerslappersas someone who lives in Las Vegas Nevada, I can confirm that
I went in June and I’m returning in a couple of weeks. To say that the hotel floors are eerie is an understatement.
She should get her own cab and do her own personal tour. Did you get her name/cab company she worked for?
@@delanorrosey4730right! Because now I’m interested lol
In my fire sprinkler apprenticeship class they showed a video of this fire, and pictures not normally shown to the public. They said the flashover in the hallway that had no fire sprinklers was going about 60 MPH and when it got to the part of the hallway with fire sprinklers, it stopped advancing. The hallway carpet was black from the heat except for where a few of the bodies were lying.
There were at least a couple floors that had fire sprinklers that had been added, and as one floor has been completed, it was charged and active.
Wow, thats very fast
I'm a fire protection engineer and have been looking for this photograph for a long time, any chance you have a copy? This image was discussed in a class I took but no one has the photo.
The image in particular I'm looking for shows the portion of the hallway where the fire damage ends right where the sprinkler coverage begins
sounds like the moral here is more buildings need sprinklers, especially high rise residential. Which in far too many cities there is still no code requirement for residential towers to have sprinkler systems at least not inside the units. I cannot help but think Grenfell in the UK would have gone differently if there was a full sprinkler system, Sure the cladding was highly flammable but sprinklers probably still would have helped those inside get out.
I did go to a college once that had something interesting aside from the usual sprinklers and I can only assume it was related to fire. the stairwells had fans at the bottom that could intake outside air. my assumption is on fire alarm they kick on and put the stairs into positive pressure with fresh air. to prevent them from filling with smoke.
In remembrance to those lost:
David J. Asher Jr., 39
John Frederick Ashton, 36
Elizabeth Monica Barresi, 53
Genese H. Bartlett, 35
Joseph Michael Bell, 31
David Ray Blair Jr., 22
Robert Parker Bushell, 48
Laura Castelazo
Víctor M. Castelazo
Leon Galico, 75
William M. Gerbosi, 24
Steven Jack Holshuh, 30
Joseph Odell Hudgins, 36
Raphael Iadeluca, 35
Angela Iadeluca, 30
Richard Oren Johnson, 44
Emil Joseph Knick, 49
Mary Elaine Knick, 39
Ellis Carl Littmann, 69
Roslyn E. Littmann, 63
Susanna E. Lobo Morales
Fernándo M. Lobo Morales
Dolores Ann Mack, 46
José Luis Mata-Álvarez, 46
Glen A. McCarthy, 59
Christine Lynn McGaughey, 33
Ethel Dorothey McKinney, 68
Vincent James McKinney, 73
Elmira L. McQuithy, 70
John Millard McQuithy, 67
Barbara E. Middleton, 39
John Floyd Monaweck, 56
Donald Charles Nilsson, 59
Charles Anthony Palazzolo, 40
Sherman Pickett, 53
David P. Potter, 24
Edward M. Rogall, 69
Pearl M. Rogall, 71
Catherine Ann Sanders, 23
David Francis Sanders, 39
Barbara Jean Sanders, 37
Donald M. Shaffer, 42
Richard E. Sipfle, 46
Allan Michael Soshnik, 32
Barbara Flo Soshnik, 31
Gary Dean Stephens, 43
Jim Eugene Thebeault Sr., 32
Charles Buford Trammel Jr., 53
Alan Magnus Unold, 37
Jesús Luis Vásquez, 25
Mary Ann Vossoughi, 41
Houshang Vossoughi, 43
Clarence James White, 65
Willie-Lee Duncan, 55
Edward William Herring, 46
Genese Bartlett Herring, 35
Edna Hoo, 39
James L. Hoo, 38
Genell McDowell
Sammie Lee Stephens, 43
Rosalie H. Unold, 36
Karen Ann Andrews, 36
Maria M. Capetillo, 31
Sara Galizo
Gustave N. Guidry, 58
Dellum Hanks, 48
Mark W. Hicks, 25
Blanche Eloise Keller, 64
Jac Eugene Keller, 61
Theresa Levitt, 53
Carol Anne Mayer, 36
Janet Llewellyn Nilsson, 59
Lori Ann Nose, 19
Diane Kay Pangburn, 23
Daniel Peha
Roberta L. Petersen, 61
Margarita Sierra
Manuel Sierra
Pablo Sierra
Thomas Spagnola, 40
Phyllis Thomas
Dianne Kay Thompson, 34
Tommy George Thompson, 36
Andrés García Torres
Patricia Louise Tunis, 60
Thank you for posting. A total number is one thing, a list of people's names makes such an impact
RIP to those lost. My condolences to their family and friends.
Who asked
May this never happen again. Rip.
Weird that my Mom and Dad are separated on this list, but it's comforting knowing that people remember these people... and will continue to for years to come.
@@bigbigjoel9710 I tried to keep this list as couple-based as possible. Who were they? I’ll gladly put them together.
I was a commercial insurance underwriter for decades and I remember when this happened. My company didn't write any part of this because when it was under construction one of our Loss Control guys was in LV on vacation and visited the site. He came back and wrote a strongly worded memo to HO telling them not to touch it, he saw too many deficiencies.
My mom stayed there as a guest a few years before the fire started. She was there for a work trip. Her mom (my grandma) raised her to be paranoid about fire because during the depression, when my grandma was still young, the family home had a fire that they barely survived, and she was always paranoid about it after that. One thing my mom did as soon as she checked into any hotel was count the steps to the nearest fire escape and go into the stairwell to check whether she would need to go right or left to go down the stairs, so if it was dark, she could still find her way. She went in and the door locked behind her and she realized how incredibly dangerous that was (you know, what if I'm part way down and the stairwell becomes obstructed and I need to move laterally across a floor to a different stairwell) and pretty much immediately packed her stuff up and found a different hotel to stay at. She told her company to never book her at that hotel again because it was a death trap. Never was she so unhappy to be able to say "I told you so".
@@smileyeagle1021 That is solid advice even nowadays. Wherever you are, know where the nearest exits are.
Too bad he didn't "whistle blow" about it publicly, huh?
@@smileyeagle1021 It's crazy to think that an emergency exit can lock you up amid the fire and smoke.
@@reddwarf4278 the state of the hotels in LV was known. regular inspections took place. it took two deadly hotel fires in the city in a brief span of time for them to enforce code compliance. whistles may blow but money talks too.
I lost both my parents in this, they had gone to vegas on their 1st wedding anniversary and me being 6 months stayed with my grandma. I got little in compensation but some was kept in a trust that I used for college.
My condolences 🙏🏾
sorry to hear :(
OMG first anniversary
Sorry for your lost…hope your parents are watching over you
How awful!
I was working that morning at the Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino across the street, had just started my shift. I will never forget that day. The people, the helicopters, the dark smoke. People poured in, some without clothes on. I watched 2 people fall to their deaths to the sidewalk below. The horror still stays with me after all these years. Thank God it changed laws. Hopefully, it can never happen again.
We’re there sprinklers in the Twin Towers and building 7, I wonder?
@@fairyprincess911it did. There was flooding and water pouring down stairwells very well documented
@@kasualbeauty309 Interesting that the sprinklers didn’t help
@fairyprincess911 Is it possible water lines to Tower 7 damaged when Towers 1 & 2 telescoped into their foundations?
Sprinkers probably don't work if water can't get to them... or if pumps for them lost power when the utility lines near World Trade might have been severed when the Towers collapsed into themselves.
The need to clear debris in haste... much of the ability to explain Tower 7's loss was lost.
Remember in tall buildings ladder trucks can only reach the 9th floor. Try to stay on the 1st to the 9th floor. Above that, you are doomed.
My friend lost his mom and dad in this tragedy. He was 12 years old , and his brother was younger. Both were left orphaned. Very sad .
I wonder if your frind is Bigbigjoel9710 in lostvictims9769's comment
Yeah right.
I think it's worth mentioning that the builder and owner of the MGM, Kirk Kerkorian, was crushed by this tragedy and told his insurance company he had no intention of contesting any claims, and personally did what he could to recompense the families of the victims.
I'm surprised to hear that but I'm glad he did that. Its frustrating when the very rich or careless cause disasters that take so many lives and then double down and add insult to injury and won't do the right thing even after.
@@Emily-lh6em Kerkorian was a hell of a guy. Grew up in abject poverty, and never went past 8th Grade. Ended up buying and selling MGM more than once! There's a great biography about him called The Gambler.
I spent most of my lifetime in hospitality and have my degree in it. 70s and 80s era American hotel boom legends like John Willard Marriott Jr (self explanatory which company he worked for), Kirk Kerkorian (MGM) and Kemmons Wilson (Holiday Inn/IHG) set the standard for hotel quality and guest satisfaction many new upstart brands fail to match.
I cant say much for the cruise industry, nor the airlines or theme parks, but resorts in Florida and Las Vegas have such extreme dedication to their guests. Tragedies like these shaped our industry, and every employee has fire and flood safety training.
Uh, it's up to the insurance companies to dispute the claims.
@@jakethreesixty Did you read what I posted?
To hear about the bloody handprints of victims who desperately tried to get out of the stairwells is just so chilling and heartbreaking!!
Sorry if I’m dumb but what were they bleeding from
@lexlykoftheexiled9008 burn wounds can bleed if stretched or made worse, they ooze blood and pus when bad.
what a candid conversation! (:
@@lexlykoftheexiled9008 or clawing and scratching to get out.
The doors were locked on the inside.
The guy on the scaffold deserves a medal.
As a part of training for being a 911 dispatcher I had to watch a different video pertaining to the MGM fire. It showed people jumping from balconies, and explained further in depth about the the elevator shafts & stairwells acting as chimneys for smoke, and toxic fumes.
There is no fire truck made that can reach the heights of the skyscrapers / hotels today, bear that in mind when you pick the 35th floor. Also, there were people who out right refused to leave their specific gambling tables / slot machines at the time of the fire. Reason being I cannot explain…
What they stated about the decor was brushed over in this video. The hotel was still decorated in lush velvet drapery, which catches fire easily and is very hard to contain as it spreads quickly.
It was a difficult video to watch, but worthwhile for training. Sad that something so tragic was needed to educate an industry about the need for fire suppression systems.
Regulations are written in blood, primarily of people who fell prey to a business owner's greed. As for why people refused to leave their specific gambling tables and slot machines, it's because addiction kills in more ways than one.
@@hauntedshadowslegacy2826 Architect here. I was apprenticing when the Station Nightclub fire happened. My company spent the next 3.5 years dealing with property owners who didnt want to put in the Life Safety equipment mandated. It never seems to change.
@@hauntedshadowslegacy2826 Sounds about right. Much of the airline industry regulated are written that way for sure. Either by plane manufactures cutting corners, or the airlines themselves cutting costs. Obvious recent example being Boeing and their 737-8Max planes.
If someone refuses to leave a slot machine or gambling table despite being warned of deadly fire and smoke sweeping through, that stubborn person has a terrible gambling addiction going on.
Did I hear correctly that bodies were found, essentially, melted onto slot machines?
I spent a couple decades working at the HQ for a national insurance company. Will never forget part of the head of security’s speech during orientation. He was covering evacuation and shelter in place policies. The notable moment was making us look for the sprinkler system. He emphasized he would never enter a high rise that didn’t have a sprinkler system. To this day, when I enter any building over 2 stories I look for sprinkler heads.
Me too. I attended a disaster response class in San Francisco ONE WEEK before it caught fire. During the class, it was pointed out that the hotel had no sprinklers.
As an architect I can tell you that most life safety code changes in our building codes come in the aftermath of tragedies like this one. I remember this fire being covered in a code class I had in architecture school.
I forget who first said it, but your comment immediately reminded me of this quote:
"Safety regulations are written in blood."
Whether that's fire safety, road safety, or general industrial safety, that quote holds true.
Now tell us, how many HUNDREDS OF YEARS have we KNOWN of the dangers of FIRE?
Codes were put in place to keep rich people from killing poor people, not because of Education.
You are correct. I used to work as a low voltage technician, working on alarms and every two year we needed to take a state required update course and all the new requirements came from bad things happening.
@@BondubrasCame here to post that quote. Every modern safety regulation exists because someone, somewhere, got seriously injured or killed _at some point._
The Station Night Club Fire in Warwick RI at the Great White concert in 2003 where 100 people lost their life also was a turning point for fire sprinkler system rules to be changed. I lost 3 friends for this to happen. I am still angry.
This fire alone got me into the habit of identifying at least two exits as soon as I enter any building where I might be for any length of time. I have done this for the last 43 years. I never want to have to find my way out of a burning building.
This fire and the Station Nightclub fire are good examples of people not being able to escape a burning building.
Very few people burn to death in a fire. Most deaths are caused by smoke inhalation or suffocation. What a horrible way to go. That is a slow and painful death.
I lost 3 friends in the Station Nightclub fire,...I am the same. Never a high floor and always near the stairs. AND I always know all the exits. ALWAYS!
I did the same thing this past October when I stayed at the . Venetian
Knowing your exits is something that can't be emphasized enough. There is a book called _To Sleep With the Angels: The Story of a Fire,_ which is probably the gold standard when it comes to an account of the Our Lady of the Angels school fire of December 1st, 1958. Quite a few of the kids that survived the horrors of the second floor would themselves go on to have careers as first responders; they would also take the time to try to educate others about exit awareness.
@@righthandwolf306 I watch a documentary on that fire. One of the survivors of the Lady of Angels school fire is John Kane from the band Journey. He was interviewed throughout that documentary which was such a terrible tragedy. That was at a time when buildings weren't equipped with sprinklers nor proper fire escapes. Those kids were literally trapped with no way out. Thankfully many improvements have been made over the years which might prevent something like that from ever happening again.
The problem with a fire breaking out in somewhere like a casino is that many people are usually intoxicated and not thinking clearly when something bad happens. I don't drink and certainly don't want to find myself trying to escape through a drunken crowd. As soon as I enter a casino or any other public building, I make a mental note of every possible exit. Hopefully I am never in a situation where I need to make a fast exit.
I was at the Dupont Plaza hotel fire in Puerto Rico in 1986. 96 dead. My wife and I left the casino about 1 minute before the fire started. Most of the dead perished in the casino. The worse part was that it was caused by arson by a few disgruntled union employees. As my wife and I were leaving the casino a lady was going in and we wished her good luck. She died in the fire. That was New Years eve and we had to go to a party so that saved our lives. It was a horrible day.
I never knew Puerto Rico had the 80s, they seem more like a 2004 kinda country?
I don't know what you mean but Puerto Rico has been a part of the USA since 1898. @@BezoomyKoshka-ip4dz
@@BezoomyKoshka-ip4dzLmaoo
Gosh, that's amazing, and sorry to the ones who lost their lives
Thank God you’re here to share your story. I had no idea about either of these fires
I worked with a guy that was an electrical engineer. There was an electrical engineering conference in Vegas, & he was supposed to stay at the MGM hotel.
When he got there, they said they were all booked up & they got him a room at the hotel across the street.
He looked out the window from his new room & watched the MGM burn.
I think the trade show was COMDEX #2 ... I was staying at the Hilton that day and watched the beginning, at 7am helicopters, smoke, etc, out of my hotel window before going to work at the show. You could see people jumping out of the higher floors. Horrible. Some booths at the show dint open, cuz the people died in the fire, some I knew. A company called Printronix was essentially destroyed as they lost their management and best engineers in the fire. One of the worst days, and weeks, in my life.
The hotel didn't burn down. It was fire gutted at the bottom floor.
@@michaelmccarthy4615 yah, twas the smoke that killed most of the people
@michaelmccarthy4615 Thank you for your insight. That contributed a lot to this story (not)
@mickmccrory8534 if you actually watched the video, they explained what happened to the MGM at the end. Including all the fire safety improvements to make the hotel one of the safest on the strip. A little factual accuracy is nice once in a while.
It's been said that casino guests were so unaware they continued on playing up until the firefighters and fireball forced them to evacuate, I've heard that on several documentaries and seen it in several articles
That was actually in the news at the time. I remember seeing it.
Says alot about casino bosses doesn't it.......
You think fire's gonna stop an addiction?
@jacekatalakis8316 furthermore I heard about it in your RUclips comment literally seconds ago. That's another citation right there.
imagine you finally hit it big on the slots and you had to abandon it all to run from the fire
I remember that disaster. It was my day off but I got a call from my boss asking me to come in; as I refused, he simply said "The MGM is on fire." I immediately went in to work at Valley Hospital ER (I was an ER RN). Most of the patients we got were victims of smoke inhalation and/or heart attack. So many were brought in, so fast, that we had them on gurneys and wheelchairs in the hallways. In the week after, I bounced between Valley Hospital and Desert Springs Hospital, doing double shifts in ER and ICU. I still remember hearing the news that they found another victim...one week later. I was standing in the middle of the full ICU and felt a horrible dread and chill running down my body. As it turned out, that person did not make it to the ICU. My husband at the time was on a cleanup crew at the MGM; he said it was horrible. they kept finding bodies, covered with ash, burned on whatever side was up and not on the down side. After the hotel/casino was completely remodeled, I couldn't even go near it due to the intense vibes of the place...maybe because I had worked there while going to school.
Not all heroes wear capes, some wear stethoscopes like you!
@@ZiggyNakamichi Thanks but not a hero, just someone who chose a helping profession. The heroes are the ones who were there, pulling people out of harm's way.
I worked with a couple older guys who went through this. If a fire alarm falsely sounded , they were done for the day. I know that security in the modern era typically clears 2 floors down and 2 floors up. Then they start working to clear ALL the rooms above. They always are referring back to the MGM fire. If you look carefully, you can see where special curtains will drop to isolate the smoke and floors from each other so the fire does not get a chimney and air circulation to fuel itself. If you have asthma or other breathing issues, get out at the first alarm. Now you know why the old casinos were imploded instead of expanded, the retrofits ruined the ability to expand safely and it was better to implode them and start over.
Never stay in a Hotel above the second floor and always know where the stairwell is
@@comfeefort The first floor of a lot of hotels starts at the roof line of the businesses below them. In Las Vegas, the grading on large properties is such that hotel lobbies are actually on the second or 3rd floor, and the 1st floor of rooms is actually on the 6th above the outside ground.
I was in Las Vegas that day. A local truck driver, I was following the situation on my trucks radio. Tremendous smoke plume. It was being broadcast that military helicopters were on their way from Indian Springs, to the north. It seemed like an inordinate time for them to come, but when they did, it had to be one of the most dramatic scenes ever. These huge helicopters swept over the city in a loose formation and G D, it was awesome. I could see a swarm of helicopters around and above the top of the structure. Unimaginable incident. Within days, I delivered heavy wooden beams right to the main entrance. The crews had to shore up areas they were investigating like they did in old mines. I remember standing at that entrance, looking in at the destruction. Un friggin real.
Its amazing so many helicopters could circle the area without any accidents and be so efficient
When this happened my older brother Kevin was stationed at Nellis AFB. He received an award or letter commending him on his involvement. Many of the choppers came out of Nellis and my brother was involved in the logistics of setting up a landing and refueling location in downtown Las Vegas.
@@TheQuarterrat Many of the chopper pilots had served in Vietnam, and had encountered dangerous/hazardous situations. They basically set up on their own, an evacuation system consisting entirely of helicopters evacuating people off of the roof top, which is flat. Since I was in Vegas at the time, you could see the helicopters, in a line patiently waiting their turn to evacuate people off of the roof. It was very inspiring, and made me very proud to be an American!
@@mmeeddddddozzzzzzz3421 Those choppers arrived and left in a one direction rotation pattern?
@@mmeeddddddozzzzzzz3421that is an incredible thing to witness!
I believe only in the USA, a country where people are free to think for themselves, not told by their gov what to.think
I seriously hate that so many buildings don't even have functioning fire alarms, let alone sprinklers. It really sucks that it takes people dying for codes to be updated and systems to be installed. This entire disaster could have been prevented (at least injuries to people) if they had a fire alarm system that wasn't as susceptible. It may have even been completely stopped or at least slowed down by an adequate sprinkler system.
that's why the saying exists that "Safety regulations are often written in blood."
This was back in 1980 when codes weren't as strict, Now a days it is far different
I’m going on a flight tomorrow and staying in a hotel, the entire week I have been binge watching plane crash and hotel disaster videos, why do I do this to myself
You'll be fine. Enjoy your trip. :)
Because you're a furry and are looking for action.
You’ll have a better chance at hitting a jackpot on a slot machine than being in a plane crash or hotel fire.
I think we all do that
Dont watch the opening to Final Destination
I watched the hotel burn and security kept telling us the level of deaths went from 9 to 65 people. Shocking to think this could happen. We had people in shock (hotel guests) who came in their housecoats and pajamas. They only had time to run and find a safe way out. They looked so distraught and we tried to soothe them with some coffee and lending an ear. This is the MOST detailed report I have heard in 43 years since this happened. Thank you!
Between mid-2014 and mid-2016, while I still lived in Las Vegas, I commonly ate breakfast with a group of older strangers. In time I learned the one was a retired fire captain -- his name slips my mind. Turns out he worked the MGM fire and had the awful tasks of being the one to handle the toe tags. You could see the horror in his eyes as he recounted that memory.
This July (2023) I stayed at the Horseshoe(MGM Grand) with my brother and his wife. My brother was playing in the WSOP. He got TRAPPED in the stairwell when the elevators, YES ALL OF THEM broke down. At any one time over the entire weekend no more than 2 were working. But the kicker is when he tried to use the stairs All the doors LOCKED forcing him to only have the option to go down 👀 (all the way down to the bottom floor) luckily he had his phone and called his wife to open a door (she had a hard time finding the stairs btw). We went to VIP concierge to inform them what happened and they could have cared less. Shrugged her shoulders and said “well that's Vegas standard law for fire” WTF
and consider that that's exactly how many people DIED 😳
It actually is the law. You can access the stairs from any floor but can only exit the stairs via the ground floor.
@@hewhohasnoidentity4377 Because some people couldn't get back in from the stairwell due to locking doors, and others propped the doors open in the MGM fire in case they needed to escape back from the stairwell (and therefore letting smoke pour into those hallways), it's now Las Vegas regulation that all stairwell doors must now automatically unlock both ways during a fire alarm.
the concierge doesn't necessarily know what she's talking about, she's not a fire marshal or lawyer. please fill out an official form for las vegas' the department of public safety's fire marshal, maybe give them a call to make sure the complaint sent properly. you could be saving lives.
@@hewhohasnoidentity4377Well, hey, guess what totally shouldn't be the fcking law anymore? That's right, the shit that gets people killed! Have a cookie, and remember that legality does not equal morality.
I’m a Vegas native. My dad worked at the Flamingo for years. He was probably working the day this happened. I’ll have to ask him what he remembers.
What he say?
I was 8 when it happened. I did DEA at this location. It was eerie to go into after the fire.
I really started watching these kinds of disaster analysis/engineering failure videos 3 years ago during the pandemic and it lead to me picking up the job of workplace health and safety officer at my workplace - it still surprises me how few people understand the dangers of smoke and how to protect yourself from it.
Omg SO INTERESTING
@@DavidPierre-vc6dy show some respect, that's a health and safety officer at walmart
@@tehjamerzis the safety of the working class a joke to you
The MGM burned on my 16th birthday, I saw the smoke as I was driving home early in the morning from my all night birthday party.
I parked my car directly across the street from the MGM just as crowds had started to gather, the whole event was very sad to watch, I kinda regret my decision to watch the fire, it definitely haunted me for a while, obviously nothing even remotely comparable to the people that were inside the hotel as it burned.
To this day, on all my birthdays, I always think about the MGM fire.
My b day is 9 11
@@user-ff8vo1se8vmy brother's b d is 9-11 too.
For some reason I see similarities between this fire and the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017.
They're both high rise buildings, they both started from an electrical fire, the fire moved extremely fast, the construction of both budlings accelerated the fire further, the firemen couldn't get to all of them and most to all of the people on the top floors died.
And that the owners for both the MGM and Grenfell cut corners when constructing the buildings.
It's so sad the unfortunately the more things change, the more they stay the same. My condolences to all who were lost in both disasters.
Grenfell was truly shocking to me. The cladding system that was installed over the facade of the building created a fire chimney. Luckily for Americans that system isn’t allowed in under US codes but it has been installed in many other countries, particularly Australia.
Grenfell Never Forgotten!💚💚💚 🇬🇧
That grenfell tower was awful. Ugh
I‘ll never forget Grenfell… what a sad day 😭
The Grenfell Tower's cladding helped fuel the fire; a type of cladding that it illegal in the US. If not for previous disasters like the MGM Grand fire, who knows how many incidents the US would have had similar to the Grenfell fire.
My uncle was actually staying at the MGM Grand when the fire happened... still traumatizes him to this day. That's literally all I know because I don't know how I'd be able to delicately ask about what happened/his experiences.
With the MGM Grand Hotel fire and the Mandalay Bay Hotel/Route 66 concert mass shooting, the city definitely does not want these tragedies to ruin themselves.
No amount of death will discourage trashy people from partaking in legalized whorin' and gamblin'!
Definitely....Two deadly incidents all in one city...Nearly 37 years apart.
@@SuperFlashDriver😂
Both events courtesy of MGM.
Yes, they move on fast! The media does too!
These people ran a casino AND a hotel, and they didn't want to install basic common sense amenities because: money. Sickening. Sprinklers are even in the bathrooms now and for good reason; fires can start anywhere so even if they may never be used, instances like this are exactly why they are needed.
Bathrooms actually Do make sense. People will sometimes toss cigarette butts away in the bathroom trash.
People’s love for money over everything else is truly sickening.
My grandpas best friend and my moms godfather died with his girlfriend in this fire. They were in their room and never had a chance of making it out before they succumbed to the smoke.
A few things that either came as a direct result of this fire, or similar incidents and research:
-All high rise buildings are required to have stairwell pressurization fans. These fans activate immediately upon a fire alarm signal and create positive pressure in egress stairwells, thereby ensure smoke and sparks do not enter stairwells, making them a safe space in the even of a fire and definitely not having the opposite effect of pumping toxic smoke throughout the building.
-All egress stairwells must open to the outside or have at least 2 egress passages on the ground level.
-There must be a "fire command center" constructed of 2-hour rating walls, floors, and ceilings. This room must house the main fire alarm panel, ensuring it will be protected in the event of a fire.
-Fire alarm cabling for notification circuits (which make the actual alarms sound) must be in conduit or 2-hour rated shafts.
-Fire suppression (sprinklers) are required, period.
If anything positive came out of this it's that anyone that tried to cut corners since then just got a boot kick to the sidewalk. But anywhere, not just Las Vegas.
I was 12 when this happened and we we’re staying at Caesars Palace. I still remember seeing people on their balconies waiting to be rescued.
I was living in Vegas when this happened. A neighbor worked in the bakery there and escaped, but witnessed people becoming victims to the fire.
My best friend at the time, lost his mom and severely injured his dad in this fire. Such a tragedy!
MGM could have spent $192,000 that would have prevented 85 deaths, 627 injuries, $50 million reconstruction costs, $223 million settlement, and one less avoidable disaster in the world.
Hindsight is 20/20
The bitter truth is many of us learn from mistakes but advise!
I was a kid when this happened. I will never forget my mother driving by the hotel where we were close enough to see several yellow tarps on the ground covering (what I later found out to be) bodies of several people who jumped from the upper floors, rather than burn to death.
I'm a native of Vegas. This is a hotel that I danced at before and after the fire. During the summer, they hosted DEA there. I was 8 when the fire happened. It was eerie to be there after the fire.
History shows no one jumped to their death. There was one death from an accidental fall, a woman who was trying to reach a ladder.
Yea despite the eye witness saying jumped from the 8th floor. Your history sure does not match news reports that were filmed live. @@VintageLasVegas
I was literally working damn near across the street from the place when this took place. This type of experience is something that you try blocking out of your mind, if not you will continue to relive the same situation, over and over again.
I worked a convention for 5 years, 3 of which involved me and all of my VIP con-invited guests (Japanese voice actors and musicians, american voice actors, comic/manga artists, etc. It's an anime convention) being up at the top of the central elevator tower of a hyatt in their rotating bar. It's a great place for the guests to go to escape the congoers after a long day signing autographs and running panels. Well, 2 of the 3 years where i was up there, the fire alarms went off. We werent told anything about staying put and just waiting, so i gathered up all of the con-related people (staff and guests) and walked them out the emergency exits and got us outside. Apparently, the act of opening the door from the escape bridge to the main hotel has a silent alarm that triggered, unknowingly. This confused firemen and hotel staff who expect us to just stay up there if the hotel is truly on fire.
Let me rephrase that: the fire department expected us to stay at the top of the open air atrium tower where the smoke would accumulate from an internal fire (all the rooms surround this atrium as well) like we were just ok with choking to death. The next year when the alarm went off, i still took everyone down, knowing it would cause more problems and told my boss "you can write me up, fire me, whatever but i care more about our staff and VIPs safety than anyone who would make them stay at the top of a smoke chamber during a fire." He laughed and said "i dont care if you set off every alarm getting our people to safety. I think you did the right thing."
During the horrifying Grenfall Towers fire in London they expected occupants to stay put in high rises. Many died. I don't remember what the reason is I guess to keep stairwells open but it is a fire dept recommendation to shelter in place
To wait to die, you mean.
My step dad worked for the MGM when the fire happened. We were dropping him off at work when the first fire trucks got there. It was a crazy seen and one thing this video doesn’t mention we’re the people that jumped to their deaths
No one jumped to their death in this fire. There was one death from an accidental fall during a rescue attempt.
@@VintageLasVegas Of the 85 fatalities, four people died from burns, ---- one jumped out of the building-----, and 80 succumbed to smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide. Eighteen of the victims were in the casino and the remaining 67 were trapped on floors 16 through 26.
Ive heard of this news story and seen videos about it before, but this one is by far the best and I learned new things. I live outside Los Ángeles and visit Vegas a few times a year. Only 45 min away by plane! It’s fun, entertaining and inviting city with endless entertainment. The locals are super friendly and I’ve made some lifelong friends that live there and always want to hang out when I’m in town. I was born 7 years after this had happened, but I’m very intrigued by Las Vegas and it’s history and love learning about the older casinos/hotels that are no more. Vegas has changed dramatically over the years and like this catastrophic incident, has learned from cutting corners in building safety for the resorts that were built in the future.
This is unrelated, but still haunts me til this day even though I wasn’t there. Mandalay/Delano is one of my favorite places to stay, but I’m always reminded about something that happened there in 2017. The Route 91 festival mass shooting that killed 60 innocent lives. Which is the most lives lost in a mass shooting in US history; for reasons unknown. The only obvious reasons being that this man was mentally ill, had a gambling addiction and had issues in his personal life. Sorry I’m bringing it up. Im also a country music fan, so I sympathize with the families and victims.
Vegas holds a lot of wonderful memories for me and millions of others and we shouldn’t forget all the people that work for Clark County to keep the city safe for visitors from the US and around the world 🤙🏼
I will say this about Las Vegas. Once there is a mistake, they learn from it and rarely repeat it. They have since taken fire safety very seriously After the Route 91 Festival, where someone in a hotel used the festival as a shooting gallery, they reviewed and set up a process, whereby you can't drag your own luggage up to your room any more. It's done for you. You also can't leave a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your room door. House keeping will come in, likely with security, to see what's up. This is what happened at the hotel, where the shooter used. He had brought his own guns up there, and a lot of ammunition, in large cases. No one examined those cases because at the time, it was figured that it was your business. No more. It was also not unusual to see a "Do Not Disturb" sign on a door for several days, as the killer had on the exterior of his room door, but that is no longer allowed. It's also not advertised. After all they want people to come to Las Vegas, have a good time, but they also want people to be safe, so therefore they have to take measure to keep people safe, even if it's from themselves or other guests. That's why there are waist high fences on all of the sidewalks. It keeps people from jaywalking or walking in front of a tourist, who doesn't see you, and getting injured or killed in a pedestrian v. car accident. Again, it's a matter of reputation and people getting killed because they stepped off of the side walk, hotel fires, and some loon shooting up a festival can't be allowed to happen. That's bad for business- simple as that..
@@mmeeddddddozzzzzzz3421 Maybe the root problem is a sick society that only cares about problems that are "bad for business." Instead of providing conselling for the mentally ill, we put them on pills, which destabilizes their psyche when they eventually come off them, and they go on shooting sprees. Of course, getting socialized therapy would be "bad for business," because that would come out of the tax money, but do you want a healthy society where people care for each other, or one that only sees another human as a money making opportunity?
thats official story. imo i think LV attracts all kinds of ppl from all over the world. And those ppl sometimes attract danger
@@mmeeddddddozzzzzzz3421 I like how you brought up the thing about how he was able to get like 17 suitcases up to a 31st or 32nd floor. And how he did it over the span of several days. He first had 3, the next day the staff brought up 4 more, then the next day 4 or 5 more and so on. I remember watching a video reviewing the surveillance and no one really questioned it because of his status at the casino. They wanted to accommodate him because of his playing history. But now that it’s happened, we see how it would be suspicious to bring that much luggage up to one person. And also the “do not disturb” sign. I have noticed when I stay at resorts now that even if you have that sign on your door, they will still make sure someone is occupying the room and will “check up” by saying “housekeeping today?” Or something so i can respect that. Something I didn’t know was about the waist high fences. I never knew their purpose, but thanks for explaining that to me. Somewhat related but back in like 2010, i almost got a jaywalking ticket running across the blvd. Trying to cross from McDonald’s at the miracle mile shoppes and back to Aria where I was staying. But yea I was young at the time and a little tipsy so I’m glad I was let off with a warning and learned my lesson lol
@@TightyWhiteyTrashI'm honestly surprised that this is what it took to have staff look in on guests with do no disturb signs up. Places of lodging have been rather quietly notorious as somewhere to go when you don't want to see the next sunrise (or to prevent someone else from doing so).
Off topic, but am I the only one who'd love to see a Dark Records + Fascinating Horror collaboration?
Maybe it could be an extended documentary (1 hour+), with each channel's narrator taking turns narrating
What historical incident would be worthy of such a video though...?
@@madokamiiii But those 2 are overdone to high hell. It must be an interesting unknown story
Yeah, good idea.
Well now considering that Dark Records, much like other documentary channels, have to blur/censor graphic content thanks to RUclips's Filtering Rules as of January/February 2023, it's bonkers to me why these channels don't bother have two separate videos, one age-restricted, and the other not, despite having the same information...Some of the blurs he did could easily be taken out had he age-restrict the video...Again, most of these topics are graphic, disturbing, and very dark topics that those under 7 should not be seeing these at all, I mean, he could easily make age-restricted content for us 18/21+ viewers whom don't mind seeing content that's age-restricted, while the others watch the censored version of the same video.
Just a suggestion, if I were to do videos like these, considering this person doesn't upload them very often, it wouldn't hurt him by having two of the same videos, one 18+ version and one for all ages to exist on this platform and go from there. Seriously, creators need to start doing that and avoid just making one video that is FORCED to be censored, blurred, or outright black wallpaper imaged on images/videos that would get this video flagged and such.
@@ScottLucianperhaps the Fireman's Wedding disaster 1929?
@@IAMPLEDGE What is that one? I'm not familiar with it.
And some ways this reminds me of the DuPont Hotel fire in Puerto Rico. Accepti in this one most people died from smoke inhalation. But in the DuPont Hotel fire most of those people burned.
I don’t want to forget it. I remember it quite vividly. I was born and raised in North Las Vegas. I was in 5th grade when it happened. It’s tragedies like these that helped make laws that helped the public from the Kerkorians who cut corners for an extra buck. His negligence cost 85 lives and lifetime health problems.
It's absolutely amazing to me how many of the reasons are just not possible with a properly built to code structure today. I think the most chilling one was the carbon monoxide killing people in their rooms because the air handlers were still operating. That is literally impossible now with a properly installed HVAC system. The minute those alarms go off, the power to the circulation system is scrammed.
What happens when the alarm doesn’t go off though? One of their buildings had a chemical fire and the alarm didn’t go off. It was in the basement level. I believe they manually called 911.
My Father and Mother in Law were staying at the MGM grand when this fire started. There room was filling with smoke . Luckily they were rescued.
RIP to the victims and condolences to the families. Nice vid Dark Records.
I was once a security guard for a large hotel in Orlando in the late 1980's. My only duty was fire watch. I could read books all night long - as long as I stayed awake, which was not hard for me to do. One of the best jobs I ever had.
This is how much the hotel's owners value human life. It's a crime that they were never prosecuted for their deliberate attempts at slithering out of accepting accountability for the disaster and the death of the victims.
I was working near Industrial and I-15 during the fires at the MGM and Hilton. We all went outside to watch the fire in horrified awe as the smoke billowed from the hotel and the helicopters fought to rescue the people on the roof. It is something I will never forget.
Industrial and I-15. Hmm. Was the Can Can Room there in 1980?
@@austindarrenor no idea, I worked for Central Telephone and they had and Engineering office, it was actually on Highland Dr south of Sahara Ave.
@@MKWhitney I was just kidding about the Can Can Room. I remember watching them build the I-15 when I was a kid and before that the drive to LA was mostly two-lane road.
I was standing right across the street that morning & saw the whole thing! Just so happened my girlfriend was driving me to airport to catch a plane home for Thanksgiving when police stopped all traffic.. Can tell ya it was a horrendous seen! People were screaming from the balconies & don't believe was only One person went out the window! There were at least 4-5 maybe even more who tried tieing bedsheets together & tried climbing down, but the sheets didn't hold & we just stood there horrified - From the 6th floor to underground parking garage, they fell....😞 MGM or rather the corporations that owned it, lied about everything denied the rest! There were so many violations it was Shocking! But of course, you'll Never here any of that! They were just lucky actually - Billy Graham was in town holding service that morning & so a major part of the guests weren't there - Thank God...
Friday November 21,1980, I’ll never forget it. As a Student at CIA ( Chef School in Hyde Park, NY) we got out of class around 2 pm and went to school post office and me and 3 of my classmates got letters from the MGM saying we were accepted into there Externship beginning February 1st. Celebrating heading to our dorm when we found out about that fire . We were devastated. Thankfully the Innnisbrook CC in Tarpon Springs Florida who were also a qualified chef training facility for the CIA interviewed us the following week to let us work there because of the fire.
I actually have several lighting fixtures from the part of the hotel that didn't burn. The larger ones have a gold pineapple design cast in aluminum with fancy oval glass swirl light covers. The others were in the hall ways and not as fancy, nice but somewhat plain compared to the gold pineapple ones. Such a sad tragedy!!! I always stay on the first 4 floors of a hotel because of accidents like this!
Bless all those who jumped in to help
In Philadelphia, the high rise fire at One Meridian Plaza happened in a partially sprinklered building. The fire advanced numerous floors and was stopped by 10 sprinklers protecting the top floors for the helicopter pad. Three firefighters were killed in the incident.
huge shout outs to those who serve or have served ❤ Even our doctors, firemen and everyone who assist we the people. Thank you so very much.
People who dedicate their lives to others should be honoured more than the fkn kardashians or Hollywood bs
@AEPHIS yep those waiters and waitresses deserve a raise.
Nurses babe
I remember when this happened. They showed videos of the fire and smoke on national TV as it was happening. (not sure if live, or tape delayed... it was 1980 after all) The entire country watched as this happened. I still have the vivid memories of the people hanging out of their hotel room windows gasping for air. It was a HUGE story and one of the worst disasters to happen in the country at that time. (and still is today) Just for people who may be unfamiliar with this hotel. When this happened, the MGM Grand was on the corner of the Las Vegas Blvd (The Strip) & Flamingo Rd. After the fire, the casino and hotel re-opened and it was eventually sold the Bally's in 1985 and it was simply just called "Bally's" for the next 37 years. In 2022 is was renamed "Hoseshoe Las Vegas".... or just simply "Horseshoe" as a throwback to "Binions Horseshoe" that was originally located in down town Las Vegas on Fremont street.... which is now called Binions Gambling Hall. Anyway.... my point is, The MGM Grand of today is NOT in the same location, and it is not made up of the same buildings as the MGM Grand hotel and casino that burned in this video. The Current MGM Grand is located on Las Vegas Blvd & Tropicana Ave. which is roughly 1 mile south of the original MGM Grand location, on the same side of the strip. I'm pretty sure the majority of the people who stayed at Bally's over the last 3+ decades never knew what happened on that site..... and even if they did know of the MGM Grand tragedy, they probably thought it happened down the street at the location of today's MGM Grand.
Interesting, I never knew about this. About 20 years ago we were staying in Reno on the 22nd floor of the hotel/casino and the fire alarm went off about 11 o’clock at night. Everybody in the hotel portion was making their way through the fire exit stairwells to get outside as soon as they can. When we got outside, there was no hotel management or fire department telling us what to do. I ran in to the casino area to find the front desk while I was just half dressed and asked the front desk what’s going on with the fire alarm and they told me not to worry about it even though the entire hotel had been evacuated yet nothing had changed down on the casino floor or the main lobby. Everyone was still playing games. Ultimately there was no fire but Sounds like they still didn’t learn on how to treat the guests.
Preparedness often feels like a waste until it isn’t
So true! So pay attention when someone is telling you what to do in an emergency.
I remember starting a new job on the 24th floor of a 60 story building. My new supervisor introduced herself and then asked "Where's the nearest exit?" She made sure we all knew how to get to an exit and of course the building itself had regular emergency tests. That meant we knew when the alarm went of we didn't freeze.
@@hopefletcher7420 good supervisor!
We pulled into Las Vegas the morning after the fire. Las Vegas Blvd. was cordoned off at the MGM Grand. The sky was still full of smoke. We got a room and turned on the TV to see what happened.
I remember when this happened,my grandma called me and told me to put on the news,people were jumping,so sad,God bless them all!
You missed the fact that they pump pure O2 into the casino area to help keep people from getting tired. That satureated everything with O2. This was similar to the Apollo 1 fire, where they had pure O2 environment with highly combustible aluminum velcro that helped spread the flames after an electrical short.
I've been living here in Vegas almost 10 years to the day and when I first learned of this fire, it consumed me. I went down a very large rabbit hole.
I was almost 5 and living in Illinois so I had no idea of this fire until about 7 years ago. I had a friend take my GF and I through the casino and hotel and he pointed out about a dozen spots that some say are haunted.
My parents were at the hotel, managed to get out. But it took my dad a few hours to realize he was in his boxer shorts and had been walking around 😂 they didn’t hear any alarm, but could see the smoke and another person on the floor was knocking on doors telling people to get out
Edit- my dad said, “when you see and smell smoke and being told to get, you leave and don’t stop to think what you’re wearing”
This reminded me a lot of what happened too the Regis hotel in Mexico City, the building was the fanciest hotel in Mexico at the time, but precisely as I’m writing the comment on September 19th 1985 Mexico had one of the worst earthquakes ever & the majority of images of this earthquake was of the hotel being toppled after the deadly earthquake, soon a die erupt aped that lasted for more than a day. You should talk about this. Since the 38th anniversary is coming soon, saludos de Mexico
That would have sucked to have been one of those people that became stuck in the locked stairway. You're always taught to use the stairway and not the elevator when there's a fire. Everyone that was caught inside died a horrible death. RIP. That's messed up that the owners of the hotel didn't upgrade the sprinkler system due to cost.
I worked for a Fire Code Engineering firm in the early 80's. We all had to watch videos of this fire. The main thing the company worked on was Hi-rises and Commercial properties. I worked in the drafting department where we drew up sprinkler systems and boards to show where pressurized stairwells and what type of firewalls were to be located and at what rating, also occupancy numbers, etc. It is things like this fire that force changes.
I worked at the remodeled MGM and they take fire safety so carefully now. We were retrained every few months on fire safety and shown videos on this fire. I don’t think anything like this will happen in Vegas again, at least at MGM.
I have never heard of this tragedy happening 😮 this is tragic, and at the MGM!? no sprinkler system no alarms, I could never imagine… thank you for bring this to light 🙏🏼
If you are thinking of the MGM after 1980, this is not the spot. After the fire, it was sold, rebuilt, and named Ballys.
Let me clear up something. The flashover was in the casino, not in a hallway. The very small fire started in the deli on the east side of the casino, went up a wall into the false ceiling, and then slowly (hours) west towards the main entrance on the west side. As it traversed the casino, in the middle of the night, people noticed the smell and smoke and eventually called FD. There is a station directly across the street from the north entrance and they went to to main entrance. The fire erupted as it got to the front entrance and almost killed the firefighters who had just arrived. As this was happening more firefighters arrived at the north entrance and as they started to go in, the flashover occurred and they barely had time to get out before the fireball blew out the north entrance. 13 people died in the fire, most of the others died from smoke in the hotel. The hotel was sprinkled, the casino was not.
Dad was a fireman at that station- that fireball burned a man stiff in mid stride and he was found like that near the exit.
Love these videos man. Well I don’t LOVE them in that way. I like the information I get from them.
I know what you mean. I love true crime & always have to think how to say I love the video 😬😏
I've lived in that city for over 20 years and this is the first time i hear about this. Great coverage.
This was built when it was still a mob town. Skating sound the rules was a matter of letting the right folks dip their beaks. Mad respect to the firefighters
I can't believe I've never heard of this disaster. I was inside of this very hotel (now renamed to Horseshoe) in May 2023 and had absolutely no idea that it was the sight of such a horrific event. I remember that the hotel in this video looked so familiar to me for some reason, and it all made sense once you showed it in 2023 at the end of the video. I guess this really is the disaster that Las Vegas wanted us to forget, and it was almost a success if not for this video.
After the fire, it was sold and renamed Bally's. It was recently sold and renamed to Horseshoe.
@@ourcreativebeehive Jesus Christ are you both clueless? Caesars had no intention of selling Bally's, so to eliminate the confusion and expand its Horseshoe brand, it changed Bally's name to the Horseshoe. The second reason had to do with Caesars development of the Horseshoe brand that it owns. The Horseshoe Las Vegas is the 10th Horseshoe-branded property in the country.
Fireman got there two minutes after the call! That's really impressive! They must have been close by.
I was living in Vegas when this happened. As well as Pepcon and the Kidd Marshmallow factory explosion. That was really bad as well as destructive. Houses were moved off their foundation's, windows and doors blown out. Vegas was a very interesting place to live.
Very few people know of the massive Pepcon explosion of rocket fuel.
Video on RUclips of the big shock waves traveling across the ground.
The explosion took place in what is now the middle of Las Vegas.....then it was out in the desert.
If you don’t wanna spend $200,000 to upgrade your fire detection system and sprinklers, you better make sure you can afford to spend the $50,000,000 to repair the fire damage!
And another $220M+ on the lawsuits for wrongful death. In 1980 dollars. I can’t even fathom that in 2023 dollars.
About 750m I'd guess.
... I worked in the fire protection industry as a "sprinkler installer .. this disaster changed a lot of laws requiring sprinklers to be installed in many buildings..... it took something big like this to finally make this happen..!!!..
One time I was asleep on the top floor of a 6 story hotel. I was awakened by a fire alarm. I got up and opened my door and looked into the hallway. It was full of smoke.
At that point I had to decide, just run out of there in my underwear or put on some clothes. I decided to get dressed quickly. I ran through the smoke and down the stairs. They say not to use the elevator in a fire. When I got to the lobby along with other guests we were informed that a bearing in the HVAC system had frozen, which causes a rubber belt to start smoking and burning. I went back up and back to bed.
Thé fire started in a pie case/refrigerator in the Deli. The fire did not go into the room towers, but the smoke did and that’s what killed people.
I stayed in a room in March 2015 that was on the side that had burned down. The place was haunted. Felt the door handle rattle in a hallway too long for someone to shake it then run and hide. Was a horrible trip.
My Uncle fought these fires, his stories are so sad.😢😢😢
I was there at the time. We were in a nearby hotel, and heard all the helicopters flying around. We got up, dressed, and wandered the streets. It was so sad. People looking for their loved ones, in pajamas. Stopped in at stores and heard the death count going up. Surreal visit to LV. 🇨🇦❤️
Always love your videos, I know you work hard on them and put effort into spreading information. Thanks!
The rescue operations sure were incredible in this scenario. Getting choppers out there and getting people out from the roof and balconies and even the construction worker helping is pretty incredible. Still a horrible tragedy and its unfortunate that there were many poor standards and lots of flammables that fueled the fire fast.
I talked to a firefighter (long since retired) who had responded to the MGM fire. He said they had found people still at the slot machines all burnt up, with one women's hand still on the slot handle.
This used to be the Bally's Las Vegas Hotel from 1986-2022.
Now known as the Horseshoe
I watched George Carlin perform at Bally's in 1998.
Yes, I stayed there when it was the Ballys hotel. I knew about the history with the fire, and what surprised me was that there wasn't even a memorial plaque or anything like that to commemorate the loss of life (not that I saw, anyway). The hotel had been nicely renovated and I liked the room, but it did seem a bit creepy to stay there knowing the history of the fire.
@@danw2112I was a cocktail waitress there (in the showroom) 97-99. Saw Carlin several times perform while I was working. He was a very nice man besides being brilliant. 😊
That was a really well done documentary. Thank you. I had no idea that event ever even occurred. Can’t wait to see what else you have.
I'm so sick of rich people never being prosecuted for their criminal negligence.
The hotel manager had a accent most associated with certain Italian fellas
@mehrimazedeh some friends of ours
va fa Napoli
Fugghetabout it.
"Goodfellas", I guess you could call them.
@@MrWolfSnack your mother's a cow