Seventy-five people died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, four from smoke inhalation alone, three from burns and smoke inhalation, only one person died from burns alone, and one person died from massive skull trauma, caused by jumping from a high window. The disaster led to the general publicizing of the fact that during a building fire, smoke inhalation is a more serious threat than flames. Openings in vertical shafts (elevators and stairwells) and seismic joints allowed toxic smoke to spread to the top floor. While the fire primarily damaged the second floor casino and adjacent restaurants, most of the deaths were on the upper floors of the hotel, and were caused by smoke inhalation. Smoke and fire spread through the building, killing 84 people and injuring 650, including guests, employees and 14 firefighters. (Jolly Green Giant) helicopters from the 1st Special Operations Wing out of Hurlburt Field, FL (which were deployed to Nellis AFB to participate in Red Flag '80) were the main part of a helicopter rescue effort that pulled 1000 people from the roof of the MGM Grand. Other agencies that responded included the North Las Vegas Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue and the Henderson Fire Department.

The Clark County Fire Department was the first agency to respond. Just after 7:00 on the morning of November 21, 1980, a fire broke out in a restaurant known as The Deli.

At the time of the fire, approximately 5,000 people were in the hotel and casino, a 26-story luxury resort with more than 2,000 hotel rooms.

The current MGM Grand is at a different location. history, after the 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta that killed 119 people and the Dupont Plaza Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico fire on December 31, 1986, in which 97 perished.īally's, previously called the MGM Grand at the time of the fire. The tragedy remains the worst disaster in Nevada history, and the third-worst hotel fire in modern U.S. The fire killed 85 people, most through smoke inhalation. The MGM Grand Fire occurred on Novemat the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino (now Bally's Las Vegas) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

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