Hotel fire arson

Press, 13 February 1981, Page 6

Hotel fire arson

NZPA-Reuter Las Vegas Arsonists have been officially blamed for a deadly fire in the Las Vegas Hilton and a SUSIOO,OOO reward has been put up for their nrrest® The spectacular blaze, which saw frantic hotel guests smashing their windows for a gasp, of fresh air and helicopters plucking people from the roof of the 30-sidrey building, killed eight people -and injured about 200. The fire chief,? Roy Parrish, described the - fire as “definite arson" and said four fires had been set deliberately in the hotel. It was the second recent big hotel fire in the desert gambling city. Last November, 85 people died when fire broke out in the huge M.G.M. Grand Hotel: Hilton Hotels Corporation, which put up the rewa-d, estimated damage to the hotel

at SUSIO million, but said insurance would more than cover this. It should be open again in about on: week. , The hotel chain said the fire was confined to the 900room east tower, where most rooms suffered only smoke damage. Mr Parrish sai 1 the main fire began in a lift, lobby on the eighth floor, broke through a window and shot up the wall c :side breaking windows as it climbed and sending smoke through the upper floors. He could not say specifically how the blaze started, but said it was set deliberately, as were three other fires in the off-white, concrete, steel, and glass building. ’ All the victims, except one man who jumped from an upper floor window, were believed to have died of smoke inhalation. All were American except for one from Argentina.