MONTE CARLO FIRE: Officials: Workers at fault - News

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Feb. 01, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

MONTE CARLO FIRE: Officials: Workers at fault

Hot metal triggered blaze at resort, investigators say

By BRIAN HAYNES
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Firefighters inspect the damage atop the Monte Carlo hotel on Jan. 25 after flames scorched the building's facade. Fire investigators said flying molten metal triggered the blaze because welders installing rooftop walkways, like the ones in the photo, failed to take safety precautions.
Photo by K.M. Cannon

County fire investigators blamed flying molten metal and a lack of safety measures by construction workers for last week's blaze atop the Monte Carlo resort, officials said Thursday.

Workers for Las Vegas-based Union Erectors were using a hand-held torch to cut corrugated steel for a rooftop walkway when the hot metal, called slag, triggered the fast-moving fire that spread across the upper reaches of the 32-story Strip hotel, according to a county statement.

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The workers tried to put out the flames with extinguishers before they spread to flammable foam on the facade and sent columns of black smoke into the sky Jan. 25. The flames forced thousands of guests and workers to evacuate the 3,000-room resort, which remained closed Thursday for repairs.

County investigators, with help from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, determined the workers failed to take basic safety precautions and did not have the necessary permit for performing "hot work," which includes cutting and welding with a torch.

"We believe this fire could have been prevented had appropriate steps been taken," Fire Chief Steve Smith said in the statement. "It appears that no slag mats were used to catch the molten metal and no fire watch had been posted."

Officials were reviewing the case to determine whether to cite Union Erectors for not obtaining the permit. The misdemeanor carries a maximum $1,000 fine and six-month jail sentence.

Neil Opfer, a construction management professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said MGM Mirage is "hiring this contractor because they are experienced and do have a track record, but the people out on the job weren't taking the necessary precautions," he said.

He said the workers might have underestimated the flammability of the construction foam used on the hotel facade. Foam products generally burn fast, "like gasoline," he said.

Union Erectors, run by John and Anita Hershberger, has worked on Paris Las Vegas, The Venetian and other Strip resorts, according to its Web site. A woman answering the company's phone Thursday afternoon said John Hershberger was unavailable for comment.

A spokesman for MGM Mirage, which owns the Monte Carlo, said company officials had thought Union Erectors was following county regulations.

"We thought they had a hot work permit, but they didn't," Senior Vice President Alan Feldman said.

Feldman said Tuesday that the workers had filled out hot work permit papers on the morning of Jan. 25 at the Monte Carlo to document the job they were doing that day.

When the Review-Journal requested copies of the paperwork, Feldman responded by e-mail that he could not release it on the advice of corporate attorneys. He then characterized the papers as "internal documents" that the hotel is required by county code to keep on file.

On Thursday, Feldman said Monte Carlo officials never had a copy of the required hot work permit as required by county fire regulations.

"It wasn't done, and it should have been," Feldman said.

Company officials were addressing the problem internally and planned to review the situation with fire and county officials, according to an MGM Mirage statement.

The Union Erectors workers were operating under a general building permit to install window-washing equipment.

Hot work requires a separate permit that spells out several precautions, including using barriers to protect flammable materials and assigning a worker to watch for signs of fire.

The worker on fire watch is not allowed to perform any other duties, Deputy Fire Chief Girard Page said.

Approval for a hot work permit can take from as little as a few weeks to as long as two months, depending on the backlog of requests, Page said.

At the Monte Carlo on Thursday, workers continued repairing and cleaning the damaged areas of the hotel. The work included installation of 8-foot-by-4-foot panels to replace scorched sections of the facade.

MGM Mirage officials have not set a timetable for reopening the resort.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281. Review-Journal writer Joan Whitely contributed to this report.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Tim Titolo wrote on February 01, 2008 03:16 PM: Monte Carlo, owned by MGM-Mirage, is going to feel the pain of injury from the recent fire. This is Super Bowl weekend and the pain will be felt in dollars. Dollars the Monte Carlo will not make on sports betting, gambling and other gaming revenue. So when the headline today in the Las Vegas Review Journal read "MONTE CARLO FIRE: Officials: Workers at fault" the reality that a roofing company caused the fire was learned. The Monte Carlo is closed for the Super Bowl Weekend. I began to wonder how long it would take for the MGM-Mirage lawyers to cry like a whiny plaintiff injured by someone else's fault. Cry out for "justice" for being damaged the amount they would have earned in revenue over the Super Bowl weekend. To circle the wagons against the "at-fault" roofing company and their insurance company to recover their "losses." WIll it take years? I think not. Then I thought of the very real case I am currently representing a very injured man in where the MGM is a defendant and simply has no use for justice. The case is a matter of public record and can be seen at: http://courtgate.coca.co.clark.nv.us:8490/DistrictCourt/asp/SearchPartyResults.asp?SearchLevel=0001&LastName=hechtkopf&FirstName=&MidInit=&CaseSubType=&PartyType= I think is very interesting how the chamber of commerce, big business, and the hotel industry can pay to get Judges elected/appointed to stamp out the efforts of trial lawyers, while at the same time using those lawyers to sustain justice when one of thier constituents causes the other harm. Interesting indeed. One only needs read Grisham's latest "The Appeal" to appreciate the reality. Ramona wrote on February 01, 2008 01:55 PM: not having a piece of paper did not cause the fire!! it is doing a job the fastest way one can and Money, that is the Vegas way. And what if they did have that stupid paper, they still would have had the fire. and the foam those buildings have on the outside, it would not matter if one had a signed stupid piece of paper or not.the American way, fast and cheap, Oh! seems to be just following what the government does. Grace wrote on February 01, 2008 01:46 PM: Were these construction workers illegal aliens? I guess MGM/Mirage, with it's penchant for "diversity" won't be disclosing that fact. monte carlo wrote on February 01, 2008 11:27 AM: stupid workers! Tom, Burbank wrote on February 01, 2008 09:27 AM: The piece of paper is a record of compliance and would have neither started nor prevented the fire, but would have indicated the contractor and hotel were following the rules designed to prevent exactly what happened. Their further failure to follow procedure indicated their disregard for safety and their desire to save the minimal cost of a "piece of paper." This raises the question of how often has Union Erectors skirted the regulations in other work? Put the owner of that company in jail and charge him for the city's cost to respond to the fire which was their fault. Next, find out who was doing the work. Are they certified to weld? Are they legal or illegal? Follow up and let all the other contractors know that there is no more important issue in Las Vegas construction than safety. holy smokes wrote on February 01, 2008 08:25 AM: Forgive my ignorance...but are all the theme casino resorts build with this flammable foam? After the MGM fire you would think that they would utilize safer material in design and construction. brad wrote on February 01, 2008 08:18 AM: When stupid people who don't care are placed in jobs like this, you have the end result. There is more screening to become a players club rep, then at a lot of union construction jobs. And as far as not following instructions, shortcuts are the main ingredient in Vegas. People spend more time getting out of things quickly, than doing their job correctly.......... hotelsafety wrote on February 01, 2008 07:32 AM: A hot work permit is a piece of paper. The fire didn't start because they didn't fill out a piece of paper. It seems to be more of a training or company policy/procedure (Union Erectors) issue. The welders most likely know all of the safety precautions to follow when working hot they just chose not to follow them. The piece of paper does not start fires or keep the fires from ingiting. Fred Frazzetta wrote on February 01, 2008 07:04 AM: Union Erectors is definitely a company that Harrah's would have used during their illegal remodel projects - they would have fit right in with Harrah's Managment Team mentality. For those of you who don't know yet Harrah's A-team consisted of: Mike Nasby, Tom Adams, Mike Whitehead, Leon Vermillion, George Kirkwood, and Kirk England, and the only thing that saved them was the fact that a fire didn't break out but if it had there would have been a disaster! It is really funny how these licensed contractors who know that permits are required...that even after all that has happened with Harrah's continue to do business as usual and insist on not following the rules. Could it be that no one in this town is worried about the severe penalties they will face for breaking the construction laws? If you write a bad check in this state you can get up to 4 years in prison...because it is a felony! But you can start a fire or put the public at risk by doing illegal work and you get threatened with $1,000 fine and maybe 6 months in jail. Union Erectors has nothing to worry about though because the Public entities in this town certainly have no gonads to enforce the laws...except when it is convenient for them. God forbid they let people know just how much they bend over for the Casinos - there real bosses. When I worked at Harrah's welding was done all of the time & I never saw a permit pulled...not even once. You can ask Harold Long & Dwight Melvin who are excellent welders in-house for Harrah's Hotel Las Vegas. Better tell them they have been breaking the law - of course if the entities responsible for enforcing the laws are spineless...why bother! the chad wrote on February 01, 2008 06:57 AM: opps, sounds like someone pulled a harrah's move here... Read All Comments