Smoke causes evacuations from upper floors of Treasure Island
A swamp cooler caught fire on the roof of Treasure Island on Tuesday morning, forcing fire crews to evacuate several floors of rooms when smoke spread into the hotel itself.
The blaze caused $20,000 in damage.
Ninety firefighters and support crew from the Clark County and Las Vegas fire departments responded to the fire about 9 a.m., when a plume of black smoke billowed from the roof of the 36-story building. Maintenance workers on the roof of The Venetian were the first to call in the fire.
Crews had the fire knocked down by
9:36 a.m., county Fire Chief Bertral Washington said.
Smoke spread through the ventilation system from the top floor down to the 24th floor; it was thickest on the 36th floor, Washington said.
Medical personnel attended to 14 people for minor injuries related to smoke inhalation.
Forty-one fire units responded to the fire.
"This was a two-alarm response, which is standard for any call of fire in a high-rise building," county spokeswoman Stacey Welling said.
The cause of the fire was a malfunction in the swamp cooler. It was deemed accidental.
A March 15 fire that started in an unfinished guest room at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas caused about $1,000 in damage. Jerod Pressnell was brought to University Medical Center suffering from smoke inhalation. Pressnell pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy to commit arson in May.
Las Vegas and Clark County hotels follow strict fire codes enacted after two deadly high-rise hotel fires on the Strip more than 30 years ago.
The MGM Grand hotel blaze in November 1980 killed 87 people and was the nation's second-deadliest fire at the time. An arson fire at the Las Vegas Hilton nearly three months later killed eight people.
Tuesday's fire recalled a blaze in January 2008 that burned the facade of the Monte Carlo resort, not far from the Treasure Island. Seventeen people were treated for minor injuries and smoke inhalation during that fire, which forced the evacuation of about 6,000 guests and employees. The fire was blamed on a rooftop welding accident.
Review-Journal reporter Antonio Planas and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Kyle Potter at kpotter@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0391.
