CORRECTION: The modern day hotel/casino pictured in this video is actually a different building, constructed after the fire. The original MGM Grand Hotel still stands, but is now Bally's Las Vegas. The building shown took on the name of the MGM Grand, but was opened in 1993. This error is entirely my own!
I do commercial fire alarms for a living and I can tell you this is technically a possibility for most of them. There is a control panel somewhere that runs the system and if a fire were to start at the panel and destroy it nothing in the field would function. However, the people who wrote the code did think of this so there is a requirement that all panels have a smoke detector directly above them so that if a fire does start near a panel it will have a chance to go off before the fire destroys it. Also, particularly large buildings like arenas, and high rises usually have multiple panels connected together to cover the entire building. If any one panel were destroyed the rest would continue to function. Nothing would work in the area the dead panel was supposed to cover, but the rest of the building would still have protection and the other panels would start beeping warnings that one of the nodes was missing, which is a trouble that is usually taken pretty seriously if people are properly trained.
@Drew P. Nutsack how do you make a fire proof wire? I agree, a fire alarm system should be designed in such a way to not be easily disabled by fire. That said, there isn't a way to make a system totally fire proof.
Right? I was floored when I heard that. I hope something like this isn't possible anymore. Edit: I wrote this before reading responses to the original commenter. Surprised to know this technically could still happen but glad to know the extra coding put in place to hopefully prevent it from happening again.
Yup, very brave. But also maybe very reckless because it placed their own lives in great danger. I doubt whether the fire department would have allowed them to do that if they'd tried to clear it with them first.
@@russguffee6661 "Now it's all about liability and control." Because it is. If you injure someone while saving them, it can mean trouble. Doing the right thing is nice and all, still a ludicrous idea and they just endangered themself.
It's terrifying how smoke can easily kill people who aren't even close to the danger. Another horrific case like this is from the Philippines, the Resorts World Manila attack. Basically a lone man opened fire and set poker tables ablaze in the casino, killing 38 people including himself. However, as it turns out, he never actually shot anyone, all 37 people who died were all from smoke inhalation when they hid in bathrooms.
I remember hearing that one. I think it might have even been this channel! Or maybe Disturban. But I remember feeling so sad and angry that those poor people died because they thought it was too dangerous to leave. Heartbreaking.
@@A129WOLFY I think you're thinking about Tragediaries (the link has been posted by someone else above me). They're a growing channel talking about Philippine tragedies, which is a must for fellow Filipinos to watch. Our history and tragedies has been underreported so much.
When a combustion takes place in an almost-enclosed space with limited oxygen supply, most products formed are carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide gases.
I lost my parents in this fire. It was their first vacation without my brother and I. I was 12 and my brother was 16. He ended up raising me and was the one who nudged me into going into the Marines. My brother and I are best friends to this day
@@USMCSDI that’s great to hear that you were looked after financially. I can’t help to think that your parents were happy you two did not come along on this trip. Thank you for your service and the comment.
I was born and raised in Las Vegas. My dad was a fireman. He worked the MGM fire. A lot of the first responders had to get counseling. He only talked about it once. Said they found people flash fried standing at the slots still holding the slot arm. The flash over was that fast. I remember my mom being extremely worried about my dad, more than I had ever seen before. Even as kids we knew this was serious. Still makes me queasy. Thank you for always being respectful.
The fact not even their own life was worth it to leave a slot machine… the image my head gave while reading your comment was terrifying! I hope your dad got some help or the very least sounded like he had a good support system 🥺 Poor man x
@@cassoIa To be fair, it didn't sound like these people had any time to evacuate. In the video, the narrator mentioned that the fire swept through the casino in 20 seconds, and the people had maybe a minute to get out. They were completely screwed. So utterly tragic : (
In terms of fire protection there's a good chance that might actually be true. I don't know anything about the modern MGM specifically, but I do commercial fire alarm systems as my job and have worked several places around the country. Las Vegas is by FAR one of the most strict in terms of both requirements and enforcement when it come to fire code.
My boyfriend is a survivor of the fire. He and his mother sat on their balcony and watched their room fill up and turn black while they waited for rescue. He was 11. Thank you for bringing me more facts about the story than I've ever known. I actually got him to go to Vegas with me. Took me months and months of convincing. He promptly got food poisoning. He's convinced Vegas is trying to kill him.
Same thing regarding people shopping in a store, you have to literally push them out because if the don’t see smoke or fire, the fools don’t take it seriously.
@@janicesullivan8942 This is too true, I work as a checkout operator in a busy grocery store. The amount of times the alarm has gone off and I've said to the customers in my que that we need to leave and started to walk away just to have a customer call out "aren't you going to scan my groceries first" >:( I just turn to them and say no while still walking away.
Something about hearing about the people who stuffed towels at the doors really crashed down on me. It's one of the things I sometimes forget but they've tried to teach us no doubt because of incidents like these. Seal wet towels, run the bath, feel the door, etc if you can't immediately evacuate. I think I'll go brush up on emergency procedures now
And fwiw, if there is a fire in your area/near your neighborhood, but not your building, it's worth noting NOT to run the bath/sprinklers; when a bunch of people in an area near a fire do this, it actually depletes the water pressure significantly and can seriously hamper Fire Fighters' ability to stop the fire. One of those other tidbits of useful info I've picked up growing up in the Western US (and having been evacuated about once every 5-10 years due to fires). Figured I'd pass it along if you're brushing up on emergency procedures anyway!
@@HomesteadingWays I have heard of folks doing that, yet the three cases I know of where they did that it didn't work. They still died of smoke inhalation.
"The restaurant and casino floor were consumed in little more than 20 seconds" Building owners: "This room is always filled with a crowd of people... That means we don't need sprinklers!" Absolutely mind boggling.
@@catprog While I understand that philosophy, 40-some years earlier 429 people were killed in the Coconut Grove fire (Boston, MA). A small fire in a building filled with about 1,000 people led to the deaths of those folks and to the injuries of 170 others. Yes, there were other code issues involved but we should have learned not to rely on the occupants to maintain a fire watch.
I know everyone says it but it cannot be overstated how good your videos are. Concise, factual, non sensational, and compassionate toward victims. Most channels that cover tragedies seem to revel in the lurid details of human suffering, not you though. You'll find comments like this one on any of Fascinating Horror's videos for good reason.
Been thinking this for a while. He's one of the most informative and *respectful* presenters of disaster breakdowns, which is wild considering he brands his channel as real-life horror, not education or infotainment.
@@RobKaiser_SQuest I absolutely agree, the channel name and the content don't really match. I'd guess he may have planned for this channel to be more horror centric when he chose the name, but instead moved toward factual retellings of events. Of course, the events he covers are still horrifying, but I'm glad that element is not played up with "spooky" music or imagery.
9:09 "Even after the fire, one governor insisted that it wasn't 'fair or practical' to insist that older buildings be brought up to codes that didn't exist when they were built." Really wrap your head around that line of reasoning for a moment. God help us all from American politicians... Also, I think this guy does a great job of being respectful and factual in his delivery, but you can't help but hear a tinge of (deserved) disgust as he reads that quote.
For the most part, the governor is correct. New codes are generally crafted with the idea of what's reasonable to incorporate into the construction of a new building. They are often highly impractical, and sometimes nearly impossible, to retrofit into buildings that are already standing, without entirely gutting the building and effectively rebuilding much of it (or tearing it down entirely and starting all over). This is bad enough when considering doing it to just one building, but keep in mind that when new codes are enacted, there are tens of thousands of pre-code buildings that would all have to be retrofitted.
@@ddichny Perhaps not all new codes, but from the sound of it, his comment reeks of a "why bother" attitude that I find chilling especially right in the aftermath of that disaster. Imagine staying at the Waldorf Astoria in New York and it still had the same fire codes and safety procedures as it did in 1931.
@@jamescoughlin8856 You and OP. Dumb. Blame the companies that own and "suggest" ideas to said politicians. Or basically, take it up with Bezos or such, or namely the Casino owners who didnt want to cough up the money...
This went to court a couple years later for settlements to the victims families. I was working at a copy center that was tasked with copying the files of the victims for court. There were a lot of boxes of files and each had photos of the victims and how/where they were found. There’s 2 that I still remember. A young boy still wearing a ball cap with black soot on his nostrils and a man who was found in a hallway nude. He must have run out when his room filled with smoke. I stopped looking and just did my job because I didn’t want to have more of these images forever in my head.
This is actually something I've always wondered, if there was any special protections if a copy center ever has to copy sensitive materials (like pictures of dead bodies). Disappointing but not surprising they just make the normal employees do it.
I have spent over 40 years traveling on business, including over a years worth of nights in Las Vegas. I was told by a fireman friend that the first thing I should do when I got to my hotel room was to find the closest fire escape door. Then to count the steps I took in case the hall was so filled with smoke I could not see clearly. He also said it would be wise to locate the second closest exit in case getting to the nearest one wasn’t possible. I didn’t really take it very seriously until I was staying in Atlanta many years ago. The high rise apartment building across the street from my room had a fire. I watched helplessly as a person finally jumped to their death to escape the flames. They were obviously trapped, but who knows if they might have been able get to an internal fire escape. It was horrendous to see this and I never stayed in any building over night again unless I found the quickest way to get out. I am so paranoid now that I request a ground or second floor room only!
Wow.. damn, man, that's heavy. Glad you're okay at least. That's pretty good advice for maximizing your chances of escape if the fire's in your building next time.
Was just in Vegas and couldn’t help but think of what a fire hazard that entire city is. To think of the hundreds of deaths and injuries that would inevitably happen if a fire were to break out is nerve wrecking. Every casino and hotel was a maze, took us 30mins to find a restaurant in one of them and all I could think was “god forbid a fire breaks out, half the people in here have no idea how to get out”. Casinos need better layouts and clearly stated exit plans. The idea is to get people lost inside so they spend more money but it’s ultimately a huge safety hazard...
The lack of windows in most gambling areas is designed that way on purpose (no clocks either) so that you don't realize the sun has gone down or even come up again since you have been gambling. However I assume you would also not see flashing lights or a giant fire right outside either!
Unfortunately they're built like that on purpose. Vast spaces filled with lots of winding paths and lots to look at so you get "caught" inside the space for as long as possible to spend the most money. It was actually a point of pride that you could spend 30 minutes trying to find the elevators to get to your room, even with signage, because every minute you wandered around made it easier for you to put a couple of coins in a machine or wander into a gift shop for directions or to pick up some needful thing. Whether robbery or fire or crazy gunman, there's no easy way to flee.
I do commercial fire alarms as my job. Basically everyone in the industry is familiar with the MGM fire it's one of the most famous incidents. It's generally credited with making it widely known that the primary danger from fire is usually smoke rather than the actual flames and highlighting the importance of properly sealed smoke barrier walls and automatic shutdown for air handlers to prevent smoke from being pumped throughout a building. I can also say that having worked in several places around the country, including Las Vegas, that Vegas is by FAR one of the most strict to this day with their fire codes and enforcement, largely as a legacy of this fire.
Do you have any advice for us in California, esp. disabled, and/or dealing with disabled relatives who can't move quickly? Thanks in advance if anything pops into mind.
You know, I've always been curious; why don't buildings have big-ass, emergency chimneys that automatically open up during a fire and just vent all the smoke up and out of the building? Would also serve a dual purpose as a literal "emergency signal"
@@kelleren4840 As a civil engineer, I think it has something to do with everyone trying to build under budget, hiring cheapest bidding contractor/subcontractors instead of best ones, and cutting corners every which way (unless inspector is on site the entire time to make sure they follow plans & specs, as was my job at one point). It's the American way to do the bare minimum & not care about consequences, make the most money and just like in other things (medications which kill) - nothing changes until enough ppl die. THEN lawsuits & money.. but they can never replace unnecessary deaths, human lives lost. (I hate to generalize, so big props to everyone in any job who actually takes pride in their work, and does the job correctly the first time!). I'm not as experienced as the OP in the alarm system area, but I've seen so many preventable accidents, and seeing that after going through a war (more needless deaths) it really hurts. I can barely get thru videos like this, but the quality content & proper respect to victims keeps me coming back.
@@A_Ducky great thoughts and solid points to think about. Cheers! And I feel you 100%; my wife is a true crime affocionada, but honestly I can't stand 95% of what she listens to. This channel though covers similar topics in a very different way. It's certainly deeply respectful and doesn't seem to be... dramatizing or "capitalizing" on tragedy. Cheers again for the response.
@@kelleren4840 some of them do. Not quite in the way you describe but smoke evacuation systems are definitely a thing. It's usually some big fans in large atrium areas, that sort of thing.
My husband and I were both working rehearsals for the new show Jubilee which was to open in 3 weeks when the fire happened. I was a dancer and my husband was a stagehand. We worked opposite 12 hour shifts so each group could have the stage without being in each other’s way. I was home asleep while my husband was working up in the ceiling of the Ziegfeld room, which you can see in the drawing of the casino floor, when they were suddenly covered by smoke. He and his coworker climbed down to the stage level thinking perhaps there was a welding fire on stage. They quickly exited out to the back alleyway of the hotel and spent the next three hours helping people, some who were attempting to climb down the building with sheets tied together. While the fire ball blew through the casino, the Ziegfeld theater interior was untouched by fire but was destroyed by smoke and eventually water from the fire hoses. Of course in those days, there were no cell phones so I didn’t know if my husband was alive or dead for over 3 hours. The loss of life was horrendous but could have been so much worse simply because it happened at 7 in the morning.
The audacity they had to say “it’s not fair” to make older buildings get up to code as the buildings change!?!?! Who seriously thinks like that? People who only see dollar signs I suppose.
Some buildings can’t be retrofitted with sprinklers for a feasible cost. I’ll be the first to advocate for sprinklers in public buildings, along with alarm systems that work. It’s not always possible to add them without massive cost. The final choice to retroactively add these systems probably resulted in some bankruptcies and closures, and would have hastened the demolition of some buildings as replacement would make more sense than upgrade. Some owners might have bought those buildings from existing owners with a spending forecast that didn’t include a massive retrofitting project with all the disruption and downtime it involved. Even a pro-safety official would face massive resistance to any plan to force retrofits on local businesses. Oh, and don’t forget the somewhat questionable ownership of some Las Vegas establishments; not people you’d want to annoy. Still, the regulations were bad. A public space should not be exempted from cheap and effective fire suppression just because it’s always occupied.
My boss and his wife were vacationing there during the fire. They got out via a window and a cherry picker, wearing only their pajamas. Lost everything, scary stuff. R.I.P. Leonard and Eileen. Both long gone now. Good video.
I remember vividly a PSA about fires where the narrator speaking also had a looping message in the background playing: the door....the door....the door.... closing the door is probably the one thing that everyone forgets to do in a fire yet it's the one thing that might save you from certain death.
My mom and dad were with my grandparents in the casino across the street from the MGM when it happened. It's true about the people who ignored the fire and just kept gambling. They said my grandmother was one of them.
I am dead serious, I used to be a pit boss and previously professional dealer. When the fire alarm goes off no one even looks around let alone moves. The dealers are looking like meercats because they can't leave and everyone else just keeps pushing spin.
@@batzzz2044 I dont stop dealing until a supervisor tells me otherwise. Unfortunately false fire alarms are so common these days with them being hooked up to emergency exits and whatnot that fire alarms in Casinos are not taken seriously at all. Living and working in Las Vegas, I play Poker a lot. I was in Wynn when they had their fire, and was at Bellagio both times when the Poker room was robbed. During all these events the games never stopped.
@@mjriemen Absolutely. The robberies were crazy man, that takes some serious stones to pull off lol. My favorite experience in the gaming industry was when a guy tried to steal a tip box with like $20 in chips in it. We were holding an awards ceremony for the state police in our auditorium, and home boy thought it was an outdoor exit. The plain clothes gaming commission agent we had held the door open for him lmfao. Plus because it was tribal he got a federal charge. Shit was priceless man. You've never seen someone so deflated that quick from 100 yards hahaha. I miss it somedays.
This touches on a bit of an old trauma in me. I used to live on the top floor of a 14-story apartment building a few years ago. One night, a fire developed at the bottom of the garbage chute. By the time I realized it and opened my apartment's door, the entire hallway had already filled with smoke. Fortunately, I managed to make it out alright and the fire was quickly extinguished before it could cause any real damage, but the rate at which the smoke managed to spread through the building (thanks to the chimney-like garbage chute) was pretty scary. Had the fire been larger or I been slower in responding, staying in my apartment and hoping for the best would have been my only choice. So yeah - smoke is a killer in high-rise buildings.
Had a bunk bed when I was younger, my duvet slipped between the bed and wall and landed on a lit lightbulb below. my whole room was filled with smoke when I woke up, could not even see my hand 10 cm away. still not sure why i woke up to this day
@@dankpoppa9751 The smoke probably hit you before carbon monoxide built up so you coughed yourself awake. The main reason sleeping people don't wake up in fires is because of carbon monoxide inhalation rather than smoke.
This is why I won't live in a high rise. If something were to go wrong, you can't get out. Lots of people like the higher floors, because it shows you can afford it, but I don't care about that. Plus, it's a hassle with groceries. Haha.
What a terrifying experience, I'm glad to hear you got out okay! That would stick with you for a good long time, I'm sure. My immediate thought is Grenfell, the tower in London that burned a few years ago. I remember watching it on the news as it happened, terrifying and heart wrenching. 70 people lost their lives, and it could've been even more if it hadn't happened during Ramadan (a lot of people were up for prayers I believe, and saw the smoke).
@@fireballfireball1067 Any sensible fire alarm system would require a live connection to remain off. As soon as a wire is burned through it should trigger the whole system.
there was a backup system mentioned in the video, the smoke just ensured noone could enact it. granted they should not have had the bloody "people from other floors can't sneak into different floors" issue we see time and again, and had more backup systems
I lived in Vegas at the time. My girlfriend was a 21 dealer when the fire broke out. She said the fire on the casino floor rolled so fast that she could feel the heat at her back as she ran out! She worked as a security guard while they cleaned and rebuilt. She gave me pictures of burnt out slot machines! I went to work there in the casino cage in 1981 after the MGM was rebuilt after the fire. During the fire, I could see the smoke all the way from Tropicana and Boulder Hwy.
Smoke inhalation is terrifying, and is why I always evacuate as soon as possible when I hear a fire alarm, only bringing my phone. Even though every time I'm 90% sure some idiot just burnt their toast again, I would much rather be alive and have the mild inconvenience of standing outside for a few minutes compared to death. Always treat fire alarms as an emergency unless proven 100% otherwise. (I know the fire alarm broke in this situation, but I'm more talking about modern situations now).
Most recent fire alarm I heard was at my old school - across the road from where I live. I was walking by in the light rain when the fire alarm went off while the building was unoccupied. I had a good view of the building and gut feeling said there wasn't a fire. I contacted police to contact the school caretaker - they refused to do anything and told me to phone the fire service. So I did - fire service turned up and so did the useless police. A smoke detector in a corridor with a flat roof had filled with rain water triggering the alarm. I now have the caretaker's phone number.
I remember watching this unfold--we were at a breakfast buffet when people began saying the MGM was on fire. I was little at the time, but I'll never forget the sight or smell of that fire. We weren't close enough to be in danger and we couldn't really leave as the streets out had been blocked to allow for firetrucks and police...except 1 and that was a traffic jam, so we watched it on the ground.
That was stupid of them to block y'all in. And if the fire spread? If it couldn't be contained? (Like it had happened in this very video in the kitchen?)
@@aewtx No chance of that, early Vegas was spread out--these casinos and hotels are massive and surrounded by parking lots. Across the street wasn't at curb level, you had a parking lot, driving lane, for the valet, sidewalk, 4 lane street, then sidewalk, parking, valet lane and hotel.
@@Odontecete No, I meant within the casino. You'd think if you had the chance to escape, you could... except nope, you're blocked from leaving, and not because of the fire. A fire can quickly spread through the whole building. It's only lucky it hadn't in this case.
@@aewtx Oh I misunderstood. Well at that time what you usually had was a large single entrance to the casino, it was the Grand Entry way that everyone used. And casinos are like mazes with only the change of carpet to guide you through a pretty dark, very large area. They weren't built back then the way they are today with different entrances beyond the grand entry . I remember that is one of the things that changed after the MGM fire.
During evacuation, there was an employee crawling past the coin counting room, and noticed that they couldn't hear the commotion of the fire, so he doubled back and let them know so they could escape.
Even as a Vegas native I didn’t know all of this! The story that gets told is that a lot of people actually died at the slot machines because they refused to stop playing. I will say that this just reminds me of that saying “all safety regulations are written in blood”.
I was a volunteer firefighter and sat in a flash over Sim. it was in a converted 40 foot steel shipping container. one flash over was so powerful, it blew open the backdoors open! temp inside was 1400 degrees!
I can see it now. Every room will have a red metal cabinet on the wall with a glass front and lettering - "In case of fire, break glass." And inside said cabinet, one bottle of tequila. Miss Chels, you should patent the design!
One room had a dead couple and the next room had a couple partying and drinking?? That's crazy-the living couple must be some of the luckiest people on earth
I'm assuming the drinkers thought to put towels and sheets around the gaps in the doors. That can make a big difference. But I could be wrong. We'll never know.
@@lesflynn4455 Its as simple as if your outside window was open. If one couple had a window open, the draft will pull all the smoke into their room, and even if they close the window, its too late, as there is nothing to suck it back out. If your outside windows were completely sealed, smoke will not enter your door, as the pressure will not build, it will just go down the hallway to the next person with an outside window open.
Luckiest because their neighbors died? What? Luckiest would be something like "Won the lottery and lived happily ever after," NOT "everyone around them died." That's just not "unlucky."
A couple of years ago I was working on a construction site during a concrete pour when one of the guys went to fill a still-running generator up with more gasoline and suddenly everything was on fire. As the flames spread with amazing speed me and my work buddy grabbed fire extinguishers and ran to the scene because nobody was doing anything. We emptied two full canisters onto the blaze with very little effect so I ran to get some more. As I was running back with two more extinguishers I noticed that roughly a 100 or so of my fellow construction workers were filming the event on their mobile phones rather than doing anything about the fire!!! It was at that moment that I realised our species is doomed lol. That was my fourth major industrial explosion in 35 years in the industry…..
@@aewtx lol, nup. But the project manager came out and cracked it after somebody hit the emergency evacuation alarm, which didn't make him particularly popular either...
@@sludge4125 literally every single person there could have grabbed a fire extinguisher but didn’t even think about it. Just mindlessly reached for their phones and started filming it. I fail to see the point of documenting yourself burning to death. Far better to actually avoid this by doing something about it lol
@@planetdisco4821 I was caught in a house fire 4 years ago my gas bottle exploded spent 38 days in the burn unit in south Africa with major 3red degree burns am fully recovered incidentally our burn ICU units is one of the best burn units in the world due to the fact that in the poorer communities shack fires happen often the real heros in life are firefighters and first responders anyone reading this treasure every moment carp diem sieze the moment and be kind in life 💘💝💖
Seems that many buildings mentioned on this channel had some designs to limit the movement of people such as to prevent people from "cheaper" areas to the premium ones.
It is a perfectly normal practice for fire stairs in hotels to have no reentry to other floors. In Vegas and in every city. If you got the idea that was a flaw from the video then he did a bad job.
I remember being able to reach the top floor of the Circus Casino and Hotel through the stairwell, i didnt realize how life saving it can be for the doors to actually be unlocked
@@GigsVT Except he wasn't talking about fire stairs at all in the video. He was talking about the regular stairwell used as an alternative to the elevator.
I’m glad you corrected the old building with the new. My father, as an employee helped open the original MGM on December 10, 1973 and I opened up the new MGM on December 18, 1993. As a little boy I witnessed the 1980 fire and the look on my fathers face at the devistation. I still have photos of the interior of the MGM shortly after they removed all the bodies out of the casino. They were found in my grandmothers photo box in Argentina when she passed away in 2006. I remember the fire like it was yesterday. Nice job on the video.
Exactly! My guess is some wanted to party and let authorities take care of it by just putting towels underneath the door cracks. Others panicked and opened windows, letting smoke in, afraid that the fire would spread througout or engulf the whole building, and that escape rescue was their only way. If the fire had gone any other way or lasted somewhat longer, the opposite of what worked could have been true. :( So terrible.
@@bentonrp true. Also philosophically I'd much rather die while drinking tequila and having fun than staring at smoke out a windows being scared for my life. ;)
I was a high school kid in LV when it happened and lived straight down Flamingo Road about 5 miles from the MGM. I’ll never forget the sounds that morning of helicopters and sirens and the view of the smoke column. Even from miles away it was horrifying.
I was too. Valley High School. I remember ditching class and trying to get a closer look. I think we made it to Paradise and Flamingo before they had it blocked.
"While the building was fitted with a fire alarm system, it was disabled by the fire before it could be activated" that's like something out of a Leslie Neilsen comedy.. it'd be so funny if it wasn't so tragic.
@@gantmj the property of the old MGM Grand is on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo. The current MGM Grand is further south on the Strip by Luxor and Mandalay Bay.
@@mdf3530 I've been in the Luxor, Excalibur, and New York New York, and remember the green MGM being right across the street. Luxor was the newest and farthest hotel at the time.
@Daft Donkeys So what is that large hotel like building with Bally’s written on the side in big capital letters with the address 3645 South Las Vegas Boulevard?
I would like to point out that the current MGM Grand is not the same as the original. The original is now Bally's Las Vegas which is owned by Caesars Entertainment.
@@thehutch7728 I went there on a weekend trip to Las Vegas once. I thought it was nice and more pleasing to the eye than the newer Mandalay Bay across the street.
@@sergior8992 he made a mistake in the vid that he has now apologised / made a correction at the top of the comments ! used the the pic / clip of the modern MGM grand as it now stands ...hey hes only human we all make mistakes lol but he does do some great vids! (normaly without mistakes) 😉
People might want to know that the ORIGINAL MGM Grand was on the corner of Flamingo and Las Vegas BLVD where Bally’s sits now. The new green MGM you’re showing is actually an entire block away and a completely different building.
Members of my family worked on this Hotel during it's construction. And nearly everyone was surprised by the corners being cut! Especially items that were supposed to be there for safety reasons. My Uncle used to say that it would look very pretty. BUT, he would never stay there!
I worked for an insurance and one of its engineers was visiting LV during construction and visited the site. He came home and wrote a memo to our HO and heads of Underwriting, Loss Control, and Claims to say we should *never* cover any part of it. He was appalled at the quality of work.
Any chance you could cover the Bhopal disaster at some point? I think your sensitivity for victims and your past stories on international events would make it an informative and compassionate video for us viewers to watch.
One of the reasons these videos feel more like proper documentaries and not just the same old RU-vid videos. They have a more professional quality to them
I mean, why wouldn’t a content creator suggest liking and subbing? It’s a old trick that usually works and even the most successful folks on the platform still use it.
@@DesignzRUs1 It's the corporate thing to do. It works and that's why corporations are powerful, yes. However, there are some things more important that power obtained through those means...
Can we talk about how it was designed so people couldn't travel between floors via stairwell? What if there was some kind of emergency (fire) on a floor and somebody wanted to get to their family on a different floor but elevators were shut down? Unreal
Someone in the fire alarm industry commented that the building standards across many industries actually require doors to work that way for security. Fire alarms trigger them to unlock to allow free movement, but in this case the alarm was disabled by the fire without being triggered, so that never happened.
I was shocked to hear about the locked doors too. What a horrible idea to lock people in the stairwell of a very high building, with just ONE exit point! Even in a normal situation, that is ridiculous.
@@neliaferreira9983 I feel like this still is in a lot of buildings I go into these days. You can only exit on certain floors. So scary that they still allow that
I remodeled that building about 3 years ago, new walls cover up the old walls damaged by the fire, signs of flames and smoke damage still exist. Mirror walls and old wall papered walls all exist behind hidden doors. Just remember, no hotel truly remodels, they just cover up the old and sometimes it’s nasty, mold damage etc.
The newer, emerald green colored MGM you're showing opened in 1993, at 3799 South Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip). The original MGM that burned, still stands as Bally's, at 3645 South Las Vegas Boulevard.
Thank you for the clarification! I’ve never been to Vegas. The extent of my knowledge of it is the Ocean’s 11 movies, so you can imagine my confusion when people said it was now Bally’s.
I have a feeling this was on the UK evening news at the time, not because of the fire, but because of the very high casualty numbers. Excellent presentation as always (7.30 p.m. local time here, South Coast NSW Australia!)
@@stephenconnell I emigrated Down Under in the early 2000's! I was DEFINITELY in the UK (Birmingham, in fact) when the MGM fire was on the TV - I'm pretty sure it was on the ITN News Channel (News at Ten) too! ;-D
I like his videos because they're usually under 12 minutes, direct and to the point, no cut-aways to other irrelevant BS that has nothing to with the subject at hand. Clear and concise dialog. Whether bot or human voice, it's great. Timing is perfect. Everything that needs to be said can be said in 10 minutes. I've seen videos of similar tragedies by others. After 30 minutes I've gotten less information than this FH Channel in 10 minutes.
Yeah, it annoys me when videos have in them unnecessary fluff and filler materials. These videos have the benefits of getting straight into the actual content and sticking to facts, with no sensationalism or attempts to try and dress things up.
1980 I was half of a trucking team with my boyfriend. we pulled in to Vegas just hours after this happened and knew nothing about it. we stopped into the Silver Slipper Casino down the strip and I learned of what happened when I went to the restroom there. staff from SSC were consoling MGM employees in the lounge outside the restroom, some that had survived. they were all in shock, crying, wailing from fear of what had happened. as we left the casino later, we looked in the direction of the MGM and I will never forget seeing bedsheets hanging out of so many windows knowing how many had died. I heard their stories and understood their pain/fear. so sad. it lives with me still the horror those people went thru.
I’m sure your parents would be proud. As a history major graduate with a concentration on WWII, as a fellow orphan, and most importantly as a fellow American, I thank you for your service.
I love your content! I’m Brazilian and it would be interesting to see you tackle the 1974 fire of the Joelma building in São Paulo. It was a massive tragedy that shook Brazil at the time, and to this day my mother talks about how horrifying it was to watch the footage on TV back then. Around 187 people died and 300 were injured.
I remember that fire, and the analysis afterwards. This was the first large fire where it was discovered that plastics used in chairs and carpeting produced a smoke that was so toxic that one breath inhaled caused people to collapse.
I was at home with the flu the day this happened; I watched it all unfold on TV. Just a little less than 20 years later, I flashed back to this in the first hours of 9/11. I remember thinking "Jeez, I thought the MGM fire was awful, how terrible must it be to be even higher up than they were... they know they're not getting rescued..."
Quite a number of people jumped to their death from the Twin Towers. You could hear their bodies smashing into the cars and pavement below. Most newscasters ignored that fact even though they witnessed it.
@@fredsilva7274 The newscasters didn't ignore it, they just didn't focus on it. There was so much going on at the time, so much tragedy and death and the realization over time that so many weren't going to be saved. And, unfortunately, there were a lot of people jumping. A documentary from a few years back mentioned hearing 20 crashes in less than 10 minutes.
@@twixxbar07 As Becca said, a lot was going on. Some media thought it would be in bad taste to show it. Other media disagreed, wanting to show the absolute horror of it all. The people had a choice. One, being burned to death, which would be painful. Two, jump to a painless death.
When one’s tendency to make personifications out of almost anything goes too far: “While the building was fitted with a fire alarm system it was disabled by the fire before it could be activated.” Now *logically* I know this means it burned through the wiring and such but something about the use of the word “Disabled” brings deliberate actions and implications to my mind. Like the fire was on a elemental heist and it’s first course of action was to disable the alarms.
I get what you're saying. It seems as though you can still look at things logically... not disappear into total fantasy... I wouldn't worry...It sounds like it would be a fun perspective to take. Probably just a way your mind lets your creativity flow. You could turn it into a semi-autobiagraphical first person narrative style sitcom!
There's nothing in those words used that anthropomorphizes the fire, just as there isn't in "the exits were blocked by the fire." A speaker using words within the full range of their denotations doesn't "go too far" just because they defy the connotations in your head. In those cases, it's your connotations that go too far.
@@PrezVeto yes, I *know* this. Which is why I specifically stated that I knew it’s my own connotations and whimsical, if slightly, twisted way thinking that created the thought in the first place, in the very next sentence. It was merely an amusing admission to my thought process that I made the mistake of sharing with you it seems.
Fun fact: the resort (now Bally's) still has some older building standards stuff. For example, the pool has a deep end that is 12 feet deep, whereas newer Vegas resorts are built with pools no deeper than 5 feet for safety reasons.
This is smoke lesson, if you can't escape. *Do NOT open the window.* Hole up and block any and all ways smoke could possibly get into your room, stay low, and pray.
I stayed at the new one in 96' when I was a kid. They had the biggest arcade I've ever seen and a huge half indoors rollercoaster. It's a gigantic hotel. So many people would be screwed if a bad fire broke out in it, but I'm sure the new one has better fire safety implements.
a rare thing about these companies is they learn for once. bad fires like these are bad press, and you get fewer return customers if they die, so it's better overall both ethically and for profit to build new buildings with more open floor plans and better safety systems because otherwise it invites the narrative their casinos are death traps if a fire happens again. fire codes were even more strict when it opened, so thankfully that means it's built safer. perfect, no, but they learned their lesson.
I'm actually shocked that I did not know of this story. With such a high victim count and such an iconic location I'd have thought it would've been widely talked about.
6:34 the part about a couple of guests who died from smoke while the guests next door were still alive and blissfully drinking is a stark reminder that panic was never the option.
I made this recommendation on the last video as this was the one i was waiting for! Its an overlooked tragedy that changed vegas hotel safety for everyone that were so badly needed! Much love and top work as always!
No one is saying your building cannot EXIST with the new safety standards, you can have that building exist right were it was built but you just cannot have any guests because it's a deathtrap.
I'd imagine keeping a few buildings like this across the various countries of the world and using them for small-scale tourism/teachings would be a respectable idea.
It's true; most property owners of very old buildings don't have the extra cash to add handicap entrances and such to their businesses, let alone alter the building to modern code. My house was built in 1896 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The front stairs to our house had a bannister that was MUCH too low to pass modern safety standards, but we weren't required to change it immediately because it was a historic building. However, when we had to replace the stairs and put in a NEW bannister (the old wood was literally falling apart) we were required to demolish the new bannister we initially installed and put in a much taller one up to code, even though being on the NRHP says you must repair things to exactly the way they were before -- except if they violate safety codes.
@@pickles3128 is a private home different from a hotel though? I'd think a building that is going to hold hundreds of visitors (for profit, mind you) should be held to a higher standard.
@@WouldntULikeToKnow. Scottsdale, Arizona requires all new buildings, even residences, to have sprinkler systems. Probably a majority of all buildings in the city now have sprinklers. The majority of firefighter callouts are for medical stuff.
GHOST in our room. We stayed at this Hotel 5 years ago. We knew nothing about this fire. One night my wife woke up & saw a shadow figure peeping around the corner at her. It pulled back then peeped around and looked at her again. This happened several times. She thought I had gotten up & was joking with her. Then the figure stepped out in front of the bed about the same time my wife stated "Stop playing" & she reached over and patted my side of the bed & got shocked that I was still in bed asleep. She screamed out "Somebody is in our room!". I jumped up & found nothing. The door was still locked. She was upset telling me about this dark figure. In the morning we found out about the fire & download the fire report. A map of the bodies' locations was included. One death in our room & several by the elevator ( which was by our room )
Makes me think about when I stayed in Treasure Island and we had to get to our flight but the line for the elevators was sooo long. My group decided to take the stairs, walked down like 30 flights, and when we finally reached the bottom, it was an employees only hallway or something with no clear exit. I can’t even imagine being in an emergency situation and trying to escape like that!!
The current day MGM Grand is a different building that was constructed later. The building where the fire happened is now Bally's. I have stayed there before.
A similar thing happened in the infamous fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in May of 1977. A fire started at the front of the building while a little over 1000 people were in the main showroom for John Davidson’s show. A bus boy named Walter Bailey got up on stage and took a microphone in hand during the warm up act and warned all patrons of a small fire in the front of the building and pointed out exits. Many patrons thought it to be a part of the act and thought it to be a joke. Some patrons began filing out while others stay seated and casually drank their cocktails. Those who chose to leave casually gathered up personal items and had drinks in their hand. The two comedians on stage urged people to leave and remained on stage until they were forced out by the advancing fire. Minutes after the bus boys announcement thick black smoke began to enter the showroom followed by a fireball. In the resulting panic over 160 people lost their lives, many from smoke inhalation. When firefighters were able to survey the showroom the next day more bodies of victims were found. One particular example was when they discovered five bodies still seated at their table waiting for a show to begin that never would. John Davidson’s music director and another musician tried to retrieve music and save instruments but sadly never made it out alive. Life is more precious than things. Things can be replaced. Failing to act promptly to a warning can cost you your life. Sadly as it has been stated “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.
I'm so happy I found this channel! I love anything and everything about history! And you make great content! I always love how these documentary's are short, yet I learn so much! 😄
Charred silver dollars (coins) were found in slot machines at area casinos after the fire. It was thought that firefighters and others had walked away with them from the MGM Casino. This event prompted the industry to install ticket dispensing slots instead of coins. Great video!
A common threath in all this accidents is the worsening of the cituations due to greedy building owners ignoring safety over stopping what they belive go be theft risk.
as a las vegan, thank you for covering this! it's a big part of our history that goes overlooked, but my parents still remember the day it happened. my father was so afraid because just the hour prior, his mom (my grandma) was eating there and left just before the fire started! if you want another las vegas event to cover as well, there's also the pepcon disaster
I watched Plainly Difficult's episode on the Pepcon explosion. FH's take would a good watch too, although the loss of life was minimal compared to his other stories. If I'm remembering correctly, there was only one casualty (which was too many).
I remember Pepcon! I was living close to McCarran and at first thought a plane had crashed. I had my patio door open and the blast sucked the air in and out of the room, the curtains were flying on the patio door! I ran outside and some of the windows in our apartment complex had been blown out!!!
Tangent: I was at a hotel when the fire alarm was tripped, once. Before that, I'd never realized that you're told to stay in your room during an incident, or that there was a PA system in the rooms at all. This was a fully automated setup; it was bizarre to sit and listen for periodic announcements about whether or not certain sections of rooms had to evacuate. The thought of experiencing that and _knowing_ you had no chance is terrifying. (This one had no casualties or fire - allegedly a wedding party that was upset about sharing the hotel with a convention had triggered the alarm, and were subsequently ejected.)
I work in commercial building operations and have worked in hotels and I will never, ever listened to such BS! If something happens get out immediately!
I stayed at the MGM when I was in Vegas with my sister many years ago. It's huge, it's beautiful and I still have the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion and mouthwash the hotel provided. They have the logo on them and I will never throw them away.
Thinks to self, "Is this what the Towering Inferno is based on?" *Googles* *Sees that the movie was released 6 years prior to this disaster* WELP, I'M OLD. And disturbed to learned that The Towering Inferno is based on two novels that were inspired by the *construction* of the World Trade Center.
The architect who designed the World Trade Center towers also designed Pruitt Igoe, one of the nations first gentrification projects to house Blacks in St. Luis post WWII boom.
There were actually some reports that Casino patrons who had seen the 1974 movie, "The Towering Inferno" were able to avoid smoke inhalation by following examples from the movie. The rescue of people by Helicopter was more successful at the MGM Grand than in the movie though.
I'm pretty sure the more modern images in the video are that of the MGM Grand Las Vegas, which is a completely different building (in a different location) to the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino (now called Bally's Las Vegas).
i love me a consistently good, well thought out, and well produced youtube channel. i wouldn't have thought i cared aout half of this stuff without this channel!
I've been watching a lot of these especially ones about fires breaking out and faulty/inadequate/non-existent fire alarms and it's made my hyper aware of how many months I've no fire alarm in my apartment because the battery for it died. Definitely making sure to get that fixed asap.
@@Vulpes_Ailurus Are you talking about the one in Traverse City Michigan? Just wondering cause I was gonna take my kid but seeing what you said I'll pass
@@Blacchogg I’m talking about the chain in general. I’ve noticed a lot of child predators are obsessed with it. But I would still recommend it. Just keep your child close.
@@Blacchogg Pretty much anywhere you'd want to take your kid will "run the risk" of child predators. This includes the park, your school, amusement parks, ice cream trucks, "rent-a-clown" establishments, arcades, pizza places, Lego stores, etc etc. Denying your children a level of entertainment designed specifically for them based upon a fear that something might happen to them just makes them miserable and entirely unprepared for the world. Be a responsible parent and make sure your kids are nearby and never out of sight while they have their fun instead.
@@ForeverLaxx first of all I'm a single father who has full custody. You don't know me or don't know what I do. I just asked dude a simple question. I don't need some strange mf telling me about shit I know already
Hmmm i've always wondered: why do you upload at this time of the day? Where i live it's 4am, and it really helps me dealing with my boring night shifts, so I'm really grateful for that.
with how long the planning was for where I work I feel my hotel is actually one of the safest. it was in the planning stages alone for 10 years before ground was broke and has only been opened since 2019. we had a fire alarm go off and it verbally gives a recorded direction for exiting the building.
