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Jan. 29, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Surprise inspection found violations

Hotel was fixing deficiencies when Fire Department returned to check

By JOAN WHITELY
REVIEW-JOURNAL
See video and photo slideshows from the fire

INSPECTORS STILL LOOKING FOR CAUSE OF FIRE

Clark County fire investigators continued their probe of the Monte Carlo blaze Monday and had not determined what sparked the flames atop the Strip hotel that forced its evacuation and closure.

Meanwhile, hotel officials hoping to inspect the building's exterior damage from Friday's fire were thwarted by gusty winds.

"We need a little more cooperation from Mother Nature to move forward upstairs," MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher said.

Although the winds prevented an assessment of the fire damage outside the building, work crews continued removing carpet and doing other work to repair smoke and water damage inside, Absher said. On the lower 26 floors, employees performed housekeeping and other routine tasks in anticipation of a reopening, he said.

Company officials would reopen the hotel only once it's deemed safe, even if that means missing the upcoming Super Bowl weekend, he said. "We're still determining what needs to be done, how we're going to get it done and when we're going to get it done," Absher said.

BRIAN HAYNES
REVIEW-JOURNAL


The Monte Carlo, left charred by a fire in its upper reaches, appears Monday much as it did right after Friday's blaze was put out by Clark County firefighters.
Photo by John Gurzinski.



Heavy winds prevented an assessment of the fire damage outside the building Monday, but work crews continued removing carpet and doing other work to repair smoke and water damage inside.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

Malfunctioning fire doors and exit doors were among fire safety violations that the Clark County Fire Department found at the Monte Carlo in a surprise November inspection triggered when one of the hotel's security officers contacted fire prevention officials.

The hotel corrected the deficiencies, or was in the process of doing so, by mid-December when the Fire Department returned for a follow-up visit, according to fire inspection records.

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    • It's not clear whether the repairs helped with the safe removal of guests from the 32-story hotel on Friday morning, when a fire on the upper reaches of the tower's exterior forced all guests and workers out.

    The head of Clark County's building department, Ron Lynn, said Monday that the lower 26 floors were habitable, but he won't allow the hotel to reopen until damaged parts of the facade are removed or secured. He expects that process to take a couple of days once it begins.

    "Under the circumstances of what went on, with the fire isolated in a non-public area and put out so quickly, I can't tell you that someone's life was saved" because of the corrected violations, MGM Mirage executive Alan Feldman said Monday. "They certainly didn't hurt, and if anything, were helpful."

    Stroud "Stan" Maldare, a security officer at the Monte Carlo for nine years, told the Review-Journal that he met with prevention specialists at the Fire Department on Nov. 6 because he believed the hotel's safety and security managers were lagging in their response to what he described as some long-standing problems.

    The next day, a fire inspector visited the hotel, and Maldare was summoned to accompany the inspector and several hotel representatives as they toured sites demonstrating Maldare's concerns. By the Fire Department's return visit on Dec. 13, the identified problems were fixed, fire records indicate.

    Records on file in the department's fire prevention bureau document numerous violations: obstructions to exit aisles; obstructions to exit doors; broken exit door hardware "throughout the property," and broken self-closing exit fire doors "throughout property."

    In some locations, doors leading to employee areas that the public might need to exit through had been locked with card-readers requiring an employee badge.

    The Dec. 13 report noted various types of completed repairs. Exposed electrical wires in an electrical room had been properly enclosed. Broken fire doors near linen locker rooms on floors 3 through 32 were fixed. An exit route from the back of a spa area had been cleared of obstacles.

    Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs, assessed developments from the Nov. 7 inspection to the Dec. 13 inspection as, "Stan detailed 25 issues that he had expressed concern about. Eleven needed to be followed up. We took care of all of them."

    He said it's not yet clear whether Maldare's superiors were already addressing the employee's concerns before the surprise inspection.

    Feldman characterized the inspections as a process in which "everybody did their job. If Stan felt the need to go to the Fire Department, that was fine. The Fire Department heard someone express concerns and physically went out (to inspect). And, we did what they asked us to do."

    Maldare said he worked more than 15 hours on Friday as a result of the fire. He declined to talk in detail about his November meeting with fire officials, or subsequent events, without permission from MGM Mirage. He said employees have to sign a paper in which they agree not to speak to the media about their employer.

    Feldman declined to give Maldare permission for further contact with the media, but said the company would not penalize him for his actions.

    "Stan is a very passionate, very intense employee, who has -- with OSHA or with the Fire Department or any number of government agencies in the past -- let his feelings be known if he didn't think things were being attended to carefully," Feldman said.

    OSHA stands for Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

    Maldare said that in the last five years or so he has triggered three inspections of the Monte Carlo by Nevada OSHA and two inspections by the Fire Department, all in relation to his concerns about fire safety.

    Stephen Coffield, a spokesman for Nevada OSHA, said Friday the agency has five days to respond to the newspaper's request for the narrative reports corresponding to eight Monte Carlo inspections listed in the federal OSHA database.

    Review-Journal writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report. Contact reporter Joan Whitely at jwhitely@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-4642.

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    Brad wrote on January 29, 2008 09:49 PM: No surprises...Build it as quick as you can, cut corners, pay off whom you have to and get the gaming license, then open your doors so the stupid Las Vegas locals and tourists, can have their wallets emptied. This city was in much better shape when the mob ran it..You would not have half the problems you do now, and probably not half the illegal population wither....This palce should remain closed..Tear it down and build an office complex that could house a legitamate industry..but oh gee, we don't support that here in Clark County..


    Concerned wrote on January 29, 2008 08:58 PM: If the spelling and grammar are indicators, these comments have no validity.


    Kevin wrote on January 29, 2008 07:02 PM: DAM CHEATING INDEPENDENTS, THEY SHOWD UP AND SWITCHED THIER VOTE TO REPUBLICAN JUST TO VOTE FOR McCAIN, BUT THEM IDIOTS DON'T RELIZE THAT A VOTE McCAIN IS A VOTE FOR THE HILLARY/OBAMA TEAM, IDIOTS!


    Jason wrote on January 29, 2008 06:57 PM: We don't need to work anymore, our congress is giving us money, so we can be like france, sit on our butts, get fat, and have the governement give us free health care and a paycheck, sounds like liberal utopia to me, I'm joking of course.


    Kelly wrote on January 29, 2008 06:26 PM: Frankly, it doesn't appear safe to go into any of the casinos or hotels in this town. The only thing that matters to the executives is money. Maybe county inspectors and OSHA shouldstart doing the job that they are in a position to do - protect the customers and quit coddling the hotels.

    www.myspace.com/boycottboydgaming


    Pay ATTENTION people!!! wrote on January 29, 2008 05:25 PM: As an employee of the MGM Mirage I am sad to say that this fire was perpetrated by the MGM Mirage themselves. It is their goal to remove the Monte Carlo all together, it sets on 40 acres and at $40 million an acre their greed is to replace it with another CityCenter type project...Bobby Baldwin should be jailed...


    Diane wrote on January 29, 2008 03:13 PM: I can't believe no one is greatful here were no serious injuries!!!
    This fire seems to have been an accident.
    Doesn't anyone out there care about all those employees who have families to support and aren't working? Last time I checked No Work No Paycheck!!!
    Where is your compassion people?


    Jason wrote on January 29, 2008 12:21 PM: I'm not suprised, these casino mogules always greese the pockets of agencies like this or politicians so they can hurry up and get thier casino up and running to make that millions of dollars. It's about profit, not product, and if people get hurt, to bad for them, they'll just hire a team of lawyers for lawsuit protection.


    jen wrote on January 29, 2008 12:04 PM: Maybe if you can't walk you shouldn't stay above the second floor. The hotels here are some of the best in the world. No knee jerk laws. Their is too many laws as it is!


    Mark$ wrote on January 29, 2008 10:21 AM: What if so much as one elderly person had dropped dead of a heart attack, while fleeing down a Monte Carlo stairwell of 30 stories? Boy would this story be different. So much for the big bad vaunted "codes"!


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