Grant
Administrator
The 1980 MGM Grand Fire
Captain Jep recounts the fire of all fires…
**********************************
The MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas, Nevada, was one of the deadliest fires is US history. It started in an area above the restaurant kitchen. Reportedly, a hidden electrical short kept setting of a fire alarm all night. At approximately 7:00 AM, the alarm went off again and Clark County Fire Station 11 responded. The fire station was across the street. Since it was a repeat alarm, they really expected not to find anything. They, of course, were met by a flash over and the rest is history.
I was on my way to work at North Las Vegas Station 52 that morning, 21 November 1980. There seemed to be a buzz with the crew as I neared the station. Everyone was pointing and talking about something. I parked my vehicle and looked to see what was causing so much concern, only to see what appeared to be an atomic explosion over the south end of the Las Vegas Strip… it was the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The smoke on the horizon was rising fast and as it hit the inversion layer, the black cloud eerily spread out into a mushroom. A general alarm was sounded, forcing all departments to send their off duty and non-mandatory personnel to assist.
By fire’s end, tragically, there was a total of eighty four (84) persons that lost their lives in this fire.
The main culprit: a lack of fire sprinklers that allowed the fire to spread quickly and unchecked. As a result of this horrific fire, an immediate retro-fit on fire systems, pretty much world wide, begun.
Another problem was the elevators. At that time, most elevator buttons were heat sensing instead of having to be depressed. This is catastrophic, in case of a fire, as the fire overwhelms the body heat to activate the buttons. The elevators were also not connected to the fire alarm system. Lastly, the evacuation procedures were different for elevators back then. In this fire, as many as possible crowded into the elevators, trying to escape. Since the elevators were set to respond to heat touched floors. They went directly to the fire floors and opened, not allowing the doors to be re-closed. Many lives were lost due to this design error and evacuation procedure.
Today, elevator buttons have to be pushed. Once the fire alarm is activated, the elevators go to the ground floor and lock out. The fire department have over-ride keys to operate them. They are momentary so the elevator only moves when the key is held and the button is held down. This way they can inch up to the fire floors or go above them without stopping.
Personally, I was awaiting cautiously in Station 52 until I was informed by the Fire Chief that I was not going to have to respond. Five minutes later, I was attaching the only mobile air unit in the Las Vegas valley to the fire department pickup and heading for the fire. Since it was an old Air Force compressor, the towing speed was 25 miles per hour. The response time was frustratingly slow.
When I arrived, there were almost 100 empty breathing air cylinders that needed filling. Our air compressor was designed with a built-in cascade system that allowed me to immediately start filling the tanks. I continued this work for the next seven hours.
I remember well seeing the fire crews dragging themselves in and out, and since the elevators were inoperable, they were exhaustively climbing the stairs to the upper floors of this massive hotel.
Another problem encountered was the process of getting into the rooms during the fire. At that time, most hotels were using regular keys with no master keys available. Most of the doors, in the early part of the fire, had to be forced open. A fireman’s number 12 boot became the preferred lock pick. It didn’t help that the doors were very secure and hard to open. Once the doors were breached, the firefighter would check for occupants. If someone was found, and they were non-responsive, the fireman would shake and yell at them. If there was still no response, the firefighter would check for carotid pulse. After all this, if there was still no life signs, the firefighter would throw the covers over their heads and mark an X on the door. Doors are no longer an issue with today’s new key cards as they are almost immediately accessible.
Observing outside next to the burning building, I watched the helicopters come and take people off the roof. Though rescuing people was heroic, the downwash of wind from the helicopter rotors forced the smoke down and into the broken windows. Some experts said that it fanned the fire in the upper floors.
Broken windows? Yes, there was many of them as people tried to escape. Now mind you, there was no balconies or external fire escapes. People in many rooms were hanging out the window screaming for rescue. I watched as two men, from different rooms, around the 25th floor, panicked when the aerial ladder could not reach them and they jumped trying to grab the ladder on the way down. An awful sight to see and remember. In fact, until now, I have never spoken about it… but I wanted you to know that this is a close and personal experience.
Theoretically the higher window in hotels can not be broken out now. Another sidelight, the falling glass shards cut completely through the hood on the 1975 Chevrolet Fire Department pickup. Can you imagine if they were to hit a person down below?
Needless-to-say, helicopter rescues are closely controlled today.
Another problem with helicopter rescue is crowd control. Too many people want to get on and refuse to wait. Metro PD’s chopper was overloaded, on the first trip, and did an “auto-rotor flutter” to the ground. Fortunately it landed safely, but the pilot always referred to it, even many years later, as a controlled crash. You absolutely need someone there to load in an orderly manner.
Gradually the chaos turned to order, all the survivors were evacuated, and the fire was completely extinguished.
On a lighter note: after the fire, four Fire Investigators and coroners were going room to room checking for ID and whatever on the casualties. As they pulled the covers off one of the casualties, he sat straight up in bed. You can imagine how these four men completely freaked out and tried to get out of the room. That didn’t work, so they decided to check on the man. It appears that when he was checked by the firefighter for responsiveness, he was so drunk that nothing phased him. The fireman could not find a pulse and pulled the covers over his head. This meant he breathed through the covers for several hours and avoided death by smoke inhalation. Amazing!
Finally, it was a fire of all fires… something we as a fire department talked about for years later… a fire that affects how you work and deal with large building fires… and a fire that changed many techniques in today’s modern firefighting world.
This about clears the brain for now. If I think of anything else I’ll post it later.
Respectfully to the many casualties.
Captain Jep.
Captain Jep recounts the fire of all fires…
**********************************
The MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas, Nevada, was one of the deadliest fires is US history. It started in an area above the restaurant kitchen. Reportedly, a hidden electrical short kept setting of a fire alarm all night. At approximately 7:00 AM, the alarm went off again and Clark County Fire Station 11 responded. The fire station was across the street. Since it was a repeat alarm, they really expected not to find anything. They, of course, were met by a flash over and the rest is history.
I was on my way to work at North Las Vegas Station 52 that morning, 21 November 1980. There seemed to be a buzz with the crew as I neared the station. Everyone was pointing and talking about something. I parked my vehicle and looked to see what was causing so much concern, only to see what appeared to be an atomic explosion over the south end of the Las Vegas Strip… it was the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The smoke on the horizon was rising fast and as it hit the inversion layer, the black cloud eerily spread out into a mushroom. A general alarm was sounded, forcing all departments to send their off duty and non-mandatory personnel to assist.
By fire’s end, tragically, there was a total of eighty four (84) persons that lost their lives in this fire.
The main culprit: a lack of fire sprinklers that allowed the fire to spread quickly and unchecked. As a result of this horrific fire, an immediate retro-fit on fire systems, pretty much world wide, begun.
Another problem was the elevators. At that time, most elevator buttons were heat sensing instead of having to be depressed. This is catastrophic, in case of a fire, as the fire overwhelms the body heat to activate the buttons. The elevators were also not connected to the fire alarm system. Lastly, the evacuation procedures were different for elevators back then. In this fire, as many as possible crowded into the elevators, trying to escape. Since the elevators were set to respond to heat touched floors. They went directly to the fire floors and opened, not allowing the doors to be re-closed. Many lives were lost due to this design error and evacuation procedure.
Today, elevator buttons have to be pushed. Once the fire alarm is activated, the elevators go to the ground floor and lock out. The fire department have over-ride keys to operate them. They are momentary so the elevator only moves when the key is held and the button is held down. This way they can inch up to the fire floors or go above them without stopping.
Personally, I was awaiting cautiously in Station 52 until I was informed by the Fire Chief that I was not going to have to respond. Five minutes later, I was attaching the only mobile air unit in the Las Vegas valley to the fire department pickup and heading for the fire. Since it was an old Air Force compressor, the towing speed was 25 miles per hour. The response time was frustratingly slow.
When I arrived, there were almost 100 empty breathing air cylinders that needed filling. Our air compressor was designed with a built-in cascade system that allowed me to immediately start filling the tanks. I continued this work for the next seven hours.
I remember well seeing the fire crews dragging themselves in and out, and since the elevators were inoperable, they were exhaustively climbing the stairs to the upper floors of this massive hotel.
Another problem encountered was the process of getting into the rooms during the fire. At that time, most hotels were using regular keys with no master keys available. Most of the doors, in the early part of the fire, had to be forced open. A fireman’s number 12 boot became the preferred lock pick. It didn’t help that the doors were very secure and hard to open. Once the doors were breached, the firefighter would check for occupants. If someone was found, and they were non-responsive, the fireman would shake and yell at them. If there was still no response, the firefighter would check for carotid pulse. After all this, if there was still no life signs, the firefighter would throw the covers over their heads and mark an X on the door. Doors are no longer an issue with today’s new key cards as they are almost immediately accessible.
Observing outside next to the burning building, I watched the helicopters come and take people off the roof. Though rescuing people was heroic, the downwash of wind from the helicopter rotors forced the smoke down and into the broken windows. Some experts said that it fanned the fire in the upper floors.
Broken windows? Yes, there was many of them as people tried to escape. Now mind you, there was no balconies or external fire escapes. People in many rooms were hanging out the window screaming for rescue. I watched as two men, from different rooms, around the 25th floor, panicked when the aerial ladder could not reach them and they jumped trying to grab the ladder on the way down. An awful sight to see and remember. In fact, until now, I have never spoken about it… but I wanted you to know that this is a close and personal experience.
Theoretically the higher window in hotels can not be broken out now. Another sidelight, the falling glass shards cut completely through the hood on the 1975 Chevrolet Fire Department pickup. Can you imagine if they were to hit a person down below?
Needless-to-say, helicopter rescues are closely controlled today.
Another problem with helicopter rescue is crowd control. Too many people want to get on and refuse to wait. Metro PD’s chopper was overloaded, on the first trip, and did an “auto-rotor flutter” to the ground. Fortunately it landed safely, but the pilot always referred to it, even many years later, as a controlled crash. You absolutely need someone there to load in an orderly manner.
Gradually the chaos turned to order, all the survivors were evacuated, and the fire was completely extinguished.
On a lighter note: after the fire, four Fire Investigators and coroners were going room to room checking for ID and whatever on the casualties. As they pulled the covers off one of the casualties, he sat straight up in bed. You can imagine how these four men completely freaked out and tried to get out of the room. That didn’t work, so they decided to check on the man. It appears that when he was checked by the firefighter for responsiveness, he was so drunk that nothing phased him. The fireman could not find a pulse and pulled the covers over his head. This meant he breathed through the covers for several hours and avoided death by smoke inhalation. Amazing!
Finally, it was a fire of all fires… something we as a fire department talked about for years later… a fire that affects how you work and deal with large building fires… and a fire that changed many techniques in today’s modern firefighting world.
This about clears the brain for now. If I think of anything else I’ll post it later.
Respectfully to the many casualties.
Captain Jep.
