A fire raging on the roof of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino closed down the Las Vegas Strip for several hours last night. Within hours, traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard returned to normal.
The Bellagio is operating normally at the moment, while traffic once again flows on the Vegas Strip.
Clark County Fire Department personnel extinguished the blaze, though they said that the location of the fire made it a difficult task. Assistant CCFD Fire Chief Larry Haydu suggested the rooftop fire added another degree of difficulty to the job.
Difficult Firefighting Due to Location and High Winds
Assistant Chief Haydu said 70 firefighters arrived on scene to help extinguish the fire. He added, "Firefighting efforts were extremely difficult due to the location of the fire and access to the location."
Larry Haydu said high winds made matters more difficult for firefighters. The location of the fire near to the water show on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road did not make things any easier. '
Flames Reached 30-40 Feet High
The flames reached 30 to 40 feet above the retail stores at one point. Despite difficulties, the Clark County Fire Department had the fire under control within an hour of responding.
Bystanders gathered near the Bellagio's famous water foundation to watch the firefighters do their job. The water show continued throughout the incident. No injuries were reported from the fire. The CCFD were on the scene within 5 minutes of the call at 10:46 pm Las Vegas time. The fire department is investigating the cause of the fire, but has not given any indication of causes at the moment.
Bellagio Annex Retail Stores
The fire occurred at the Bellagio Annex, a retail area of the resort complex. The incident occurred at a non-peak time for shopping, which limited the danger to patrons and staff members.
The retail area contains high-end stores like Tiffany & Co. and Chanel. Nearby, restaurant brands founded by celebrity chefs are situated, overlooking the water show.
Hotel and Casino Not Evacuated
Hotel spokeswoman Yvette Monet said the retail area was evacuated, but the 4,000-room hotel area did not need to be evacuated. The casino operations continued throughout the incident, though the Las Vegas Strip itself was closed down for a time.
This is the second major fire at a Las Vegas casino in the past 4 months. On December 28, 2016, one tower of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino was evacuated due to a fire. About 500 rooms were evacuated, with some parts of the hotel not being reopened for an entire week. Thursday night's fire appears to have caused less damage.
