Las Vegas Myth Revisited: Old MGM Grand Implodes After Fire
Editor's Note: Vegas Mythbusters releases new entries every Monday, plus a bonus Friday flashback edition. Today’s entry in our ongoing series originally appeared on August 26, 2022. The MGM brand's 43rd anniversary is Tuesday, November 21, 2023.
There is a common myth surrounding the fire at the MGM Grand on November 21, 1980. But the truth is more disturbing than the fiction that hides the truth.
The original MGM Grand opened in 1973 and has more than 2,100 hotel rooms and is considered one of the largest hotels in the world. But after November 21, 1980, it was known only as the site of one of the world's worst hotel fires.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 87 people and changed fire codes in Nevada and across the country.
Only the Winecoff Hotel fire on December 7, 1946, which killed 119 people in downtown Atlanta, was worse. Fortunately, helicopters from nearby Nellis Air Force Base were able to rescue more than 1,000 people from the MGM rooftop, otherwise the death toll would have broken that record.
Myth
Many believe that the MGM Grand was demolished after the devastating fire, either because of the extensive damage caused by the fire or because there were too many bad things in the building. This myth is so common that it was even presented as fact in the 2009 version of Frommer’s Las Vegas.
The fact is that the building had "some" fire damage, but it was limited to the casino and first floor and did not cause any serious structural damage. There were some bad things, but that didn't cause MGM to implode and rebuild the property.
The original MGM was not demolished at all. Instead, the damage from the fire was repaired and the building was sold to Bally's five years later. As part of the sale, Bally's transformed the hotel into the famous Bally's Las Vegas Hotel. In 1993, a new MGM Grand (the one you know today, with its mirrored windows and famous lion statue) opened south of the original MGM Grand.
The original hotel complex where most of the deaths occurred is still in operation today.
Hot details
At 7 a.m. on November 21, 1980, a small fire broke out in a deli at the east end of the casino due to a wiring failure. The deli was not open; a casino employee noticed the smoke and called security. He searched desperately for a fire extinguisher but couldn't find it. At that time this part of the casino did not have a sprinkler system.
The fire began climbing the walls of the restaurant at a rate of 17 feet per second. Four minutes after leaving the deli, it hit the lobby's front door, shattering the glass. All stairwells, elevator shafts and air conditioning ducts were converted into chimneys before the fire department was able to contain the fire.
More than 60 of the 87 victims died on the 19th to 24th floors of the hotel building, half of them in their rooms, from inhaling thick black smoke and carbon monoxide that billowed through air-conditioning ducts , gathered into dense clouds. Many victims may still be sleeping in their beds.
Heritage in vain
The MGM Grand reopened eight months after the fire with sprinklers and fire alarm systems throughout the building. (As a result of the fire, these are now a legal requirement.) Later in 1981, a second 26-story tower was added as part of a $50 million renovation. However, attendance declined due to the negative publicity caused by the fire and the years of litigation that followed.
An investigation into the fire revealed many disturbing details. For example, installing a sprinkler system recommended by the Las Vegas Fire Department but not yet required by law would reduce only $200,000 from the $106 million cost of building the MGM Grand in 1972-1973. The hotel refused, however, and the Clark County Building Department sided with it, saying since the building operates 24 hours a day, automatic sprinklers are not needed throughout the property.
Injuries from the fire resulted in more than 1,350 legal claims, which MGM Grand ultimately agreed to pay $223 million to resolve. At the time, Las Vegas did not have enough law firms to handle all the lawsuits.
MGM was dissatisfied with the operation of this massive monument to failure and death, and in April 1986 it moved into pinball and slot machine manufacturer Bally Manufacturing.
Reborn from the ashes
Kirk Kerkorian, owner of the MGM Grand, began quietly purchasing the property to build a new MGM Grand a mile south of the old MGM Grand. It opened in 1993 and is still in operation today. Since then, Bally's has changed hands several times. Hilton Hotels acquired the property in 1996 and spun off its casino resort division into Park Place Entertainment, which was renamed Caesars Entertainment and was acquired by Harrah's Entertainment in 2005.
Now, the old MGM Grand has been renamed yet again. It has been a horseshoe since December 2022. Caesars renamed it to reflect its role as the new host of the World Series of Poker.
Binion's Horseshoe was the original name of Binion's Casino in downtown Las Vegas, which launched the WSOP in 1970. Meanwhile, in a big show at the Strip-do-si-do, the Bally's name is expected to travel a mile south and land on Tropicana, which Bally's Corporation bought this year for $308 million from Gaming and Leisure Properties The hotel - if true the strip resort wouldn't implode to make way for the Oakland Athletics new baseball stadium.
Busting the myth that the MGM Grand imploded reveals a disturbing truth. In the 42 years since the fire, no matter how many years the old MGM Grand stayed in operation, hundreds of thousands of guests slept in the same rooms above while dozens of poor souls suffocated in the rooms above And die.
Look for "Las Vegas Myths Busted" every Monday Access
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Source: www.casino.org
