Fire breaks out Westgate Las Vegas, quickly contained

A fire broke out at a storage unit at Westgate Las Vegas about 3:30 p.m. Friday, forcing the pool deck to be evacuated, according to a hotel spokesman.

“There was a lot of smoke, but it’s pretty contained,” Westgate public relations director Gordon Prouty said about 20 minutes after images first surfaced of the fire and black smoke emanating from the property.

Some old pool-deck furniture, much of it made of wicker, went up in flames, he said.

The blaze centered on a facility near the pool where the hotel stores deck chairs, behind the cabanas and near the entrance. Prouty said he was not sure of the cause. That particular area is where guests congregate to smoke.

The fire was caused by an accidentally discarded cigarette, according to Clark County Fire Department spokesman Dan Heenan. Westgate GM Cami Christensen also said later Friday afternoon that a guest had tossed a cigarette into the area.

One guest suffered a minor injury while trying to put the fire out, Heenan said.

Review-Journal reporter Sabrina Schnur contributed to this report. John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.