7-25-2015 Cosmopolitan Hotel Fire, Las Vegas, NV

[nozzleman]

This afternoon my wife and I were out shopping and as we were on our way home we saw a large plum of smoke. I told her it looked really close to where we live at and she said that she thought that it was on the stripe (Las Vegas Blvd). I had left my cell phone at home when we left and I have a scanner app on the phone.

 

The initial call came in at 12:16pm and I listened to the archive tape and I could hear the 1st due Engine say they had a working fire and a lot of smoke showing.

 

The First Due Engine was Engine 32 which is right next door to the Cosmo.

 

By the time I got close to the fire this is what I saw as far as smoke conditions being produced. The fire was in the Bamboo Pool area which is on the 14th Floor of the Hotel.

 

There was not a lot of smoke at this this point and time.

 



 

Here is one of the articles about the fire.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/firefighters-extin...6264.html#

[nozzleman]

I AM CURRENTLY LISTENING TO THE ARCHIVES OF THE FIRE TRYING TO GET A RUN DOWN AND SOME MORE INFORMATION ON THE FIRE. AS I DO I WILL ADD COMPANIES LISTED BELOW.


 

Staging was on Harmon with some units on Las Vegas Blvd in front of the Cosmo.

 

I could not get closer than Polaris and Harmon so I parked and walked in. I saw Metro blocking traffic on Harmon from that area.

 

This is not a complete list of companies that were there but it is what I could come up with.

 

Clark County Fire

 

Engines 32,11,12,14,15,19,33,21,25,29,18

Trucks 11,18,22

Rescues 218, 33, 19, 32,18

Air Resource Unit

Chief 5

Investigation Unit

 

Strike Team of Ambulance 5 Ambulance

 

Las Vegas Fire And Rescue

 

Engine 10

Truck 1

Heavy Rescue 44

 

 

Smoke alarms were going off on the 14th floor (pool level), 15th floor, and 16th floor and command ordered the evacuation of all floors above the fire floor.

 

[nozzleman]

As I walked up Harmon this is the scene of equipment that I saw. The people waiting out in the street in a line are Hotel Staff at the Meeting point. Rigs in the picture are Engine 12 (Industrial and about the Circus Circus) and Rescue 218  (Flamingo and Paradise Rd.)

 

[nozzleman]

A MedicWest Unit on the scene. They were on Harmon.

 

[nozzleman]

Here is a picture from a guest at another hotel. This picture is from twitter and credit goes to the original photographer.

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKyIerMVAAAkCKq.jpg

[nozzleman]

 



 

 

Staging on Harmon

 



 

[nozzleman]

Engine 29 and Metro Police

 



 

Engine 32 Hooked up Unknown CCFD Unit using a spare engine and the Air Resource Unit, along with several other units.

 

[nozzleman]

Air Resource Unit, Truck 11, LVFR Engine 10, Heavy Rescue 44 and several other units on the Scene.

 

[nozzleman]

Truck 18 and 22, Las Vegas Fire Battalion 1, Engine 10 and Heavy Rescue 44 on the scene

 



 

Las Vegas Fire Engine 10 and Heavy Rescue 44

 

[nozzleman]

 



 



 



 

 



 



 



 

[nozzleman]

All of the rigs lined up on Harmon. One of the biggest concerns of the Command officer was Utilities to the Pool Deck and the 14 th floor. Also at one point and time it was wanted to know if the ATF was needed for the fire. I has been reported that it was either a cig that was thrown from a balcony or on that was carelessly discarded on the pool deck The fire could have been a lot worse there were only two injuries one went to the hospital and was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. There were several other calls around the area at the time of the fire for people complaining of trouble breathing.

 

We were very lucky this day it could have been worse. Thank you for viewing the pictures and I am glad in this case I did not get any pictures of the brothers in action.

 

Not all of our fires in hotels have been so lucky. The Las Vegas Sun printed a list of major hotel fires here and here is the link. As I get more and more information on the fire I will list it.

 

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jul/25/...ugh-years/

 

[nozzleman]

Here is a article that the Las Vegas Sun put out about the fire. It has a pretty good slide show of the fire.

 

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jul/25/...gas-strip/

[DaveYoung]

Love those apparatus shots, impressive response! Thanks for posting those up, and for all of the links. Much appreciated.

[nozzleman]

Love those apparatus shots, impressive response! Thanks for posting those up, and for all of the links. Much appreciated.

 

Your very welcome. Once they found they had an actual working fire they struck a second alarm. Engine  was the first on the scene being as their station is literally right next door. There were several City of Las Vegas units that were on the scene that I was not able to get pictures of as they had been released and were already gone by the time I even got close enough to take these pictures.

[CCFR-45]

Very impressive amount of apparatus there. I guess I would have figured there would have been more Las Vegas FD units there than Clark County. But I don't know how their system works out there.

 

Nice shots. 

 

Thanks for sharing

[Bryce]

Very impressive amount of apparatus there. I guess I would have figured there would have been more Las Vegas FD units there than Clark County. But I don't know how their system works out there.

 

Nice shots. 

 

Thanks for sharing

The only hotel on the strip that is in the city is The Stratosphere. Everything else is in the county. The Cosmopolitan is pretty far south, so even though they use the same dispatch center and automatic aid, Vegas units are kinda far away.

[CCFR-45]

The only hotel on the strip that is in the city is The Stratosphere. Everything else is in the county. The Cosmopolitan is pretty far south, so even though they use the same dispatch center and automatic aid, Vegas units are kinda far away.

 

Thanks for the information. I had no idea. I've never been to Vegas and don't know much about the area.

 

Thanks again.

[grubber33270]

So how many alarms is that for that many engine companies to respond? or was this considered a special response due to a high rise?

[DaveYoung]

 

Your very welcome. Once they found they had an actual working fire they struck a second alarm. Engine  was the first on the scene being as their station is literally right next door. There were several City of Las Vegas units that were on the scene that I was not able to get pictures of as they had been released and were already gone by the time I even got close enough to take these pictures.

You're not kidding about "literally next door." I looked that station up on a map and it's about 40' away from the west end of the Cosmo.

[nozzleman]

Very impressive amount of apparatus there. I guess I would have figured there would have been more Las Vegas FD units there than Clark County. But I don't know how their system works out there.

 

Nice shots. 

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Thank you I don't get to many fires but when I do I try to get the best I can.

 

The only hotel on the strip that is in the city is The Stratosphere. Everything else is in the county. The Cosmopolitan is pretty far south, so even though they use the same dispatch center and automatic aid, Vegas units are kinda far away.

 

As far as I know Las Vegas City Fire and Rescue closest station is Station 10 which is on Martin Luther King between Charleston and Oakey. The City and County work very closely together.

 

So how many alarms is that for that many engine companies to respond? or was this considered a special response due to a high rise?

 

This was a Two alarm High Rise Fire. A High Rise Alarm is as follows:

 

5 Engine Companies

2 Ladder Trucks

2 Battalion Chiefs

3 Rescue Units

Heavy Rescue.

 

When you take the two alarms you basically get a 2.5 alarm response.

 

Also the County fire department credits alot of the changes in hotels since the MGM Grand Fire. They now have

Fire Control rooms in all of the major hotels and casinos and that is what helped keep this from being much worse.