mgm fire
The MGM Grand Hotel was a 23 story hotel and casino facility located at the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, currently in use as Bally's Casino. The hotel consisted of 21 stories of guest rooms situated above two non-hotel stories- a double main level and casino and an interstitial space used for gaming floor security. The floors were numbered with an alternative numbering system used by the MGM Grand owners, depicted in Fig.1. Immediately adjacent to the casino and performance areas on the first floor to the east were a series of restaurants, clustered in the central portion of the building.
Construction on the building broke ground during 1972 and it was ultimately opened to the public in December of 1973. The building consisted of different construction types of varying efficacy with respect to fire protection. The hotel floors were resistant to fire and utilized a steel framing members which were protected by gypsum wall board (GWB) and reinforced concrete. Partitions were constructed from steel studs and GWB. The casino and interstitial levels were more sparsely protected; in some instances partitions did not fully extend above ceilings, an intention by the HVAC designer (NFPA, 1982).
On the morning of Nov. 21, 1980, 85 people died and more than 700 were injured as a result of a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel. This was the second largest life-loss hotel fire in United States history.
At approximately 7:00 AM on November 21, an employee of The Deli restaurant (Plan in Fig. 2) first noticed a small fire in the kitchen area while arriving to work. This employee notified hotel security, who in turn notified the fire department. Security began to evacuate the casino floor shortly thereafter, with eyewitnesses also reporting a rapid appearance of smoke. Several guests were trained firefighters and assisted in the evacuation process; they noted that the fire began to superheat the area and penetrate the upper ceiling approximately three
Construction on the building broke ground during 1972 and it was ultimately opened to the public in December of 1973. The building consisted of different construction types of varying efficacy with respect to fire protection. The hotel floors were resistant to fire and utilized a steel framing members which were protected by gypsum wall board (GWB) and reinforced concrete. Partitions were constructed from steel studs and GWB. The casino and interstitial levels were more sparsely protected; in some instances partitions did not fully extend above ceilings, an intention by the HVAC designer (NFPA, 1982).
On the morning of Nov. 21, 1980, 85 people died and more than 700 were injured as a result of a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel. This was the second largest life-loss hotel fire in United States history.
At approximately 7:00 AM on November 21, an employee of The Deli restaurant (Plan in Fig. 2) first noticed a small fire in the kitchen area while arriving to work. This employee notified hotel security, who in turn notified the fire department. Security began to evacuate the casino floor shortly thereafter, with eyewitnesses also reporting a rapid appearance of smoke. Several guests were trained firefighters and assisted in the evacuation process; they noted that the fire began to superheat the area and penetrate the upper ceiling approximately three