Fortunately the file was all outside the building, just in cabanas and fake palm trees around the pool, but it was quite spectacular, with huge flames as the fake palms burned, huge billowing black smoke, and guests evacuated from the casino and rooms. Some ran in fear from the pool area.
Interestingly, apparently there are balcony rooms that face the pool, and people often toss cigarette butts down into the pool area. This could well have been the cause of the blaze as still-lit cigarette butts landed on flammable fake trees or cabanas.
Some guests had to change rooms after the fire, and some sprinkler systems may have gone off in some rooms. The news showed a man complaining about the fact that hotel employees had packed up all the items from his room for him while he was out and moved them, and lost some items.
This could have been really a lot worse if the hotel's structure had caught fire. Those flames were really large and dangerous.
I was at Vegas World when the Stratosphere Tower caught on fire during construction and had to evacuate from the 19th floor. (The hotel never had damage in that case either). But from that experience I can tell you that it takes a long long time to climb down stairs from such a high floor (elevators will not work). And just like in this Cosmopolitan fire, confusion ensued at the fire exits by both tourists and casino employees,who don't know which way to direct you. Some stairs may not go all the way to the ground, but only to a lower floor (such as 3), where you must go down a hallway to get out. In the Stratosphere case, some stairways emptied into the middle of the casino instead of outside. Thankfully there wasn't a blaze in a casino!
It took me years to accept rooms on a high floor (something I probably shouldn't do). Hotel fires do happen, and it is probably best to always check the map on the door of your room to know which stairs are the real fire exits. Also pay attention to fire alarms, they could be real. In the event of a fire (even one in a seemingly non-adjacent area like a pool), leave quickly and with calm determination, and don't bother to take any belongings. Most likely your hotel will be evacuated even if it is a non-adjacent area, so head for the stairs, because once the alarms start the elevator will stop. If you are not sure if an alarm is real or false, call the front desk to check.
Posted by: Misscraps <misscraps@aol.com>
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