BREAKING NEWS: Three Alarm Fire Is Destroying Monte Carlo Casino In Las Vegas. (I'm Live Blogging The Story Now)

Courtesy of AP
Great slide show of images from the fire ...

It is VERY bad, and it looks like the casino may be destroyed. The fire is burning in 3 sections of the hotel/casino, and it's burning both horizontally and vertically. There is also lots of reports that the building is falling apart, and there is debris falling off of the building. The authorities aren't saying much, but the fire is reportedly out of control. You can't access any of the news sites here in Vegas because of the traffic. You can go to KXNT.COM to listen to a live broadcast of what's happening right now.


UPDATE:

Fire spread to a 4th section of the Monte Carlo.

UPDATE:

It looks like the fire department is starting to win the battle against the fire. It is much better than it was even 10 minutes ago.


UPDATE:

So far, no injuries. We can't confirm if there are workers trapped on the roof, but it seems unlikely now. There are firefighters on the roof of the Monte Carlo right now.

UPDATE:

Only the Monte Carlo is being evacuated ... no other hotels have been evacuated as has been reported nationally.

The fire in the west wing is contained, and the fire department is reporting that the south wing is nearly contained.

There were welders on the roof of the Monte Carlo before the fire broke out. We don't know if they are responsible for the fire yet.

The wall burning on the roof is a protective wall that prevents people from jumping off the building. Several of the suites below that wall have been destroyed.


UPDATE:

There is an iconic image on the TV right now. A firefighter is standing on a balcony breaking the door in from the outside while he is completely surrounded by flames on both sides and above him. Part of the frame of the suite collapsed around him, but he is ok. I'll try to find the image to post it.

UPDATE:

The fire is under control right now. The local CBS station (lasvegasnow.com) is ripping our local Fox affiliate (fox5vegas.com) for spreading doomsday rumors about mass evacuations at other casinos that was picked up nationally.

This was a bad fire that spread quickly in less than an hour, but Vegas has the nation's toughest fire codes. Fire walls are built in between floors to prevent fires from spreading, and our fire department deserves great praise for their reaction to the fire. It is a real testament to their professionalism, courage, and ability.

UPDATE:

Local CBS is citing an AP report that the rumors of the trapped employees was false.

The fire department will hold a press conference in a few minutes.

UPDATE:

Reports are coming in that the firefighters were focussed on battling the blaze on the 29th floor.

UPDATE:

Earlier I told you that local CBS ripped local Fox affiliate for false reporting. Local CBS then read an AP article that their were NO WORKERS trapped on the roof. However, the local Fox channel is saying they were rescued. We'll find out which is true when the fire department gives its press conference.

UPDATE:

Reporters are able to interview witnesses now on the ground, and they are stunned that the fire department was able to put the fire out. The pictures you see above and that you'll see in the next couple of days will not do the fire justice. Everything that is black in the pictures was at one point completely engulfed in flames. This fire burned very hot.

UPDATE:

Experts are saying that the fire looks worse than it actually ended up being, and that most of the damage is on the exterior of the building. I'm not so sure of that. I saw several suites burning on the inside of the building.

UPDATE:

One man hid inside a freezer for a couple of hours until the fire was under control.

UPDATE:

Fire Chief Steve Smith has given his press conference and he went over how many fire fighters responded (25 apparatuses), the evacuation, fire on upper floors, it was an exterior fire ... the fire did not penetrate far into the building, no rooms were completely destroyed (guess I was wrong), fire not completely out ... in a state of "knockdown", no injuries or casualties at all, was not an easy fire to deal with (they just made it look that way), stay off the strip, still investigating cause.

No word yet on whether workers were rescued or if it was false report.

UPDATE:

We have 4 local news channels here - 3, 5, 8, and 13. All are still reporting on the fire except for channel 3 who has gone back to running Days of Our Lives ... too funny.

UPDATE:

Oh great, the reporters are starting in with the 9/11 comparisons. They are saying that the firefighters "no doubt" thought about 9/11 as they were rushing up the stairs of the Monte Carlo. Give me a break.

UPDATE:

When the flames first started the patrons were not told to evacuate even though everyone heard fire alarms. The saw their resort on fire on the TVs and decided to evacuate on their own. The casino workers said they were investigating why the alarms were going off, but that everyone was safe. As the fire spread an official evacuation was ordered for the whole resort, and there was a problem with getting some gamblers away from their machines.

Everything is in mop up right now, and appears to be over. I'll continue to look for that image I told you about earlier, and confirmation on if anyone was ever trapped.