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LAS VEGAS — No charges will be filed in a spectacular three-alarm fire that forced thousands to evacuate and damaged the facade of the Monte Carlo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Clark County’s fire chief said Wednesday.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Fire Chief Steve Smith said of the Jan. 25 fire, which he confirmed was started by welders working on the roof without proper county permits.
Seventeen people received minor injuries, while 6,000 guests and employees were forced to flee. The hotel remained closed for repairs until Feb. 15, costing some $100 million in damage and lost business, according to casino owner MGM Mirage Inc.
Smith called the blaze “an isolated incident where there was a negative outcome,” and said MGM Mirage and its contractor, Union Erectors LLC, were punished enough by the damage that resulted.
“Everyone wants to take this as an example of the importance of getting the right permits and applying them correctly,” Smith said.
Investigators determined welders failed to obtain a proper county permit for the so-called “hot work.” But Smith said welders thought they had authorization under a broad building permit obtained by MGM Mirage.
Investigators confirmed that the fire started when stray bits of molten metal dropped on flammable parts of the exterior building facade, Smith said, including a foam building material that ignited and burned intensely.
The blaze charred the exterior of the upper floors of the 3,000-room, 32-story hotel-casino and sent thick black smoke billowing over the Strip. The casino and hotel remained closed until Feb. 15 while workers removed and secured damaged portions of the decorative facade around the Monte Carlo sign.
Smith said Clark County building officials were still investigating whether restrictions should be placed on the use of the foam sculpting, known as an exterior insulation finishing system, or EFIS.
The fire might have been prevented, Smith said, if workers followed county “hot work” procedures including placement of “slag mats” to catch molten metal, posting workers to watch for stray sparks, and providing enough extinguishers to douse hot spots.
Union Erectors has maintained that its workers followed safety procedures, and officials have said workers tried to douse flames but extinguishers were ineffective.
It took about 120 firefighters from several local departments more than an hour to contain and douse the flames. Firefighters broke out windows in top floor rooms and leaned out with hoses to aim water at the flames above.
The spectacle brought to mind the state’s deadliest fire, a 1980 blaze that killed 87 people at the old MGM Grand hotel on the Strip.
Smith called the lesson of the Monte Carlo fire more important than the possible penalties for violating fire codes: a misdemeanor charge that could result in a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.
“Hopefully this will be reinforcement within the trades and with the contractors about what can happen if you don’t apply the guidelines of the hot works permit,” the fire chief said.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Fire Chief Steve Smith said of the Jan. 25 fire, which he confirmed was started by welders working on the roof without proper county permits.
Seventeen people received minor injuries, while 6,000 guests and employees were forced to flee. The hotel remained closed for repairs until Feb. 15, costing some $100 million in damage and lost business, according to casino owner MGM Mirage Inc.
Smith called the blaze “an isolated incident where there was a negative outcome,” and said MGM Mirage and its contractor, Union Erectors LLC, were punished enough by the damage that resulted.
“Everyone wants to take this as an example of the importance of getting the right permits and applying them correctly,” Smith said.
Investigators determined welders failed to obtain a proper county permit for the so-called “hot work.” But Smith said welders thought they had authorization under a broad building permit obtained by MGM Mirage.
Investigators confirmed that the fire started when stray bits of molten metal dropped on flammable parts of the exterior building facade, Smith said, including a foam building material that ignited and burned intensely.
The blaze charred the exterior of the upper floors of the 3,000-room, 32-story hotel-casino and sent thick black smoke billowing over the Strip. The casino and hotel remained closed until Feb. 15 while workers removed and secured damaged portions of the decorative facade around the Monte Carlo sign.
Smith said Clark County building officials were still investigating whether restrictions should be placed on the use of the foam sculpting, known as an exterior insulation finishing system, or EFIS.
The fire might have been prevented, Smith said, if workers followed county “hot work” procedures including placement of “slag mats” to catch molten metal, posting workers to watch for stray sparks, and providing enough extinguishers to douse hot spots.
Union Erectors has maintained that its workers followed safety procedures, and officials have said workers tried to douse flames but extinguishers were ineffective.
It took about 120 firefighters from several local departments more than an hour to contain and douse the flames. Firefighters broke out windows in top floor rooms and leaned out with hoses to aim water at the flames above.
The spectacle brought to mind the state’s deadliest fire, a 1980 blaze that killed 87 people at the old MGM Grand hotel on the Strip.
Smith called the lesson of the Monte Carlo fire more important than the possible penalties for violating fire codes: a misdemeanor charge that could result in a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.
“Hopefully this will be reinforcement within the trades and with the contractors about what can happen if you don’t apply the guidelines of the hot works permit,” the fire chief said.
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