LOOKBACK: Strat tower catches on fire in 1993
A spectacular three-alarm fire at the Vegas World Stratosphere Tower project that could be seen for miles on Aug. 29, 1993. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review Journal)
The burned remains of scaffolding and other materials after a spectacular three-alarm fire at the Vegas World Stratosphere Tower project that could be seen for miles. The fire was reported not long after midnight on Aug. 29, 1993, after a police officer on a traffic stop looked up and saw flames ringing the top of the tower. A series of explosions was heard over a several block radius, but reports differed whether the blasts occurred before or after the flames were spotted. Dozens of businesses, motels and apartments were evacuated within a three to four block radius of the tower but fire officials did not order an evacuation of the Vegas World hotel adjacent to the tower because they thought the safest place for guests was inside the hotel. The fire burned itself out by sunrise and officials began their investigation. A giant crane being used for construction was found heavily damaged and non-operational. Officials were hoping to use the crane to help with cleanup. The tower fire comes 19 years after another property owned by Vegas World and Stratosphere owner Bob Stupak was destroyed at the same location. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A construction crane rises above the fire that engulfed the upper limits of ongoing growth of the Vegas World Stratosphere Tower on Aug. 29, 1993. Plywood concrete forms that encircled the unfinished tower fueled the flames of the fire whose source of origin was undetermined. The structure did not include a functional fire suppression system during the construction phase. Attempts by fire fighters to put the flames out reached only half-way-up the 510 foot tower thus the fire was left to burn itself out. Additional concern followed over falling debris as Las Vegas Boulevard was closed from Sahara to Saint Louis avenues. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A spectacular three-alarm fire at the Vegas World Stratosphere Tower project that could be seen for miles. The fire was reported not long after midnight after a police officer on a traffic stop looked up and saw flames ringing the top of the tower. A series of explosions was heard over a several block radius, but reports differed whether the blasts occurred before or after the flames were spotted. Dozens of businesses, motels and apartments were evacuated within a three to four block radius of the tower but fire officials did not order an evacuation of the Vegas World hotel adjacent to the tower because they thought the safest place for guests was inside the hotel. The fire burned itself out by sunrise and officials began their investigation. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A Metropolitan Police officer helps Gilbert and Dorothy Scheerings of Tucson, Arizona evacuate the Vegas World Hotel because of a spectacular three-alarm fire at the Vegas World Stratosphere Tower project that could be seen for miles. The fire was reported not long after midnight after a police officer on a traffic stop looked up and saw flames ringing the top of the tower. A series of explosions was heard over a several block radius, but reports differed whether the blasts occurred before or after the flames were spotted. Dozens of businesses, motels and apartments were evacuated within a three to four block radius of the tower but fire officials did not order an evacuation of the Vegas World hotel adjacent to the tower because they thought the safest place for guests was inside the hotel. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A giant crane next to the Stratosphere Tower that is building itself by inserting 20 foot sections into its mast on Sept. 9, 1993. The crane will remove debris from an August 29th fire at the tower. The planned height of the tower is 690 feet. (John Gurzinski/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A giant crane next to the Stratosphere Tower that is building itself by inserting 20 foot sections into its mast on Sept. 8, 1993. The crane will remove debris from an August 29th fire at the tower. The planned height of the tower is 690 feet. (John Gurzinski/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The burned remains of scaffolding and other materials after a spectacular three-alarm fire at the Vegas World Stratosphere Tower project that could be seen for miles. The fire was reported not long after midnight after a police officer on a traffic stop looked up and saw flames ringing the top of the tower. A series of explosions was heard over a several block radius, but reports differed whether the blasts occurred before or after the flames were spotted. Dozens of businesses, motels and apartments were evacuated within a three to four block radius of the tower but fire officials did not order an evacuation of the Vegas World hotel adjacent to the tower because they thought the safest place for guests was inside the hotel. The fire burned itself out by sunrise and officials began their investigation. A giant crane being used for construction was found heavily damaged and non-operational. Officials were hoping to use the crane to help with cleanup. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A meeting with business owners and operators affected by street closures caused by a fire at Bob Stupak's Stratosphere Tower on Aug. 31, 1993. Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and several other city officials including acting City Manager Larry Barton are at the meeting. Other names include Ray Anderson, Julie Bell, Yvonne Duplain (white shirt, black hair). This image is of several men with a graphic showing the Stupak Tower Area Businesses and their occupancies. The fire roared through the tower's central shaft and sent showers of burning debris over nearby streets, forcing hundreds of people from their hotel rooms and apartment buildings. The cleanup could take up to three weeks. Las Vegas Boulevard was reopened between Sahara and Baltimore Avenues but remains closed from Baltimore to St Louis Avenue. Location is the Main Casino Restaurant in the Aztec Inn 2200 South Las Vegas Boulevard. (John Gurzinski/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A meeting with business owners and operators affected by street closures caused by a fire at Bob Stupak's Stratosphere Tower on Aug. 31, 1993. Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and several other city officials including acting City Manager Larry Barton are at the meeting. Other names include Ray Anderson, Julie Bell, Yvonne Duplain (white shirt, black hair). This image is of an unknown man showing an elevation rendering of the tower and the cranes. The fire roared through the tower's central shaft and sent showers of burning debris over nearby streets, forcing hundreds of people from their hotel rooms and apartment buildings. The cleanup was expected to take up to three weeks. Las Vegas Boulevard was reopened between Sahara and Baltimore Avenues but remained closed from Baltimore to St Louis Avenue. (John Gurzinski/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Las Vegas Fire Department inspectors examining a crane that caught fire after hitting a power line on Sept. 6, 1993. The crane was being used to remove debris from an August 29th fire at the Vegas World Stratosphere Tower. The fire started after the mobile crane hit a power line. Electricity surged through the metal crane and caused one tire on the crane to burn and a second one to explode. Two firefighters were knocked over by the blast and one suffered minor injuries. The accident caused a 40-minute power outage for some nearby businesses.
On Aug. 29, 1993, a three-alarm fire started at the then-under-construction Stratosphere observation tower (called the Strat SkyPod today) that led the nearby Vegas World Hotel to evacuate.
The tower fire began around midnight and burned for three hours before burning out. No one was injured in the fire. A nearby construction crane was also damaged.
The cause of the fire has never been determined.
In 1997, Stratosphere Corp. founder Bob Stupak filed a lawsuit against the general contractor behind the tower, Perini Building Co. Perini was accused of breach of contract by creating a condition that led to the fire. Stupak reached a $1.1 million settlement in 1999.
Transamerica Insurance Corp. filed a lawsuit against Perini and Uriah Enterprises, an iron company that installed the tower’s stairs and parts of its elevator shafts, for reimbursement for insurance money it paid to a McDonalds’ damaged by debris from the tower fire. The two companies paid a $150,000 settlement in 1999 to Transamerica for damages, according to a Review-Journal report.
The observation tower was not the first Stupak project to catch on fire. Before Bob Stupak’s Vegas World was constructed, Stupak’s World Famous Million Dollar Historic Gambling Museum experienced a fire in May 1974 that destroyed the resort. Vegas World was built at the same site of the old casino and opened in 1979. Construction on the tower began in February 1992 and cost $32 million.
Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tmflane on Twitter.
