Qualla: MGM Grand Fire https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/mgm-grand-fire-wp/a-uh-1n-iroquois-helicopter-co.jpg Qualla: MGM Grand Fire https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire MGM Grand Fire: Introduction https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire/ Photo credit Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain. A tile crew supervisor noticed a flickering light at 7:07 a.m. on November 21, 1980. He was inspecting a restaurant called The Deli at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino when that flicker revealed itself to be a wall of flames. Within six minutes, the entire casino floor was engulfed, fed by wallpaper, PVC piping, plastic mirrors, and glue. A massive fireball blew out the main entrance facing the Las Vegas Strip. By the time it ended, 85 people were dead and the disaster had spawned the largest helicopter rescue operation in American peacetime history, with military aircraft plucking 1,000 people from the roof of the 26-story tower.

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Image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994 | Public domain

]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/mgm-grand-fire-wp/9qqj-mgm-grand-fire-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full MGM Grand Fire: A $192,000 Decision https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire/ Photo credit Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain. The MGM Grand had opened in 1973 with more than 2,000 hotel rooms, making it one of the largest hotels in the world. Sprinklers were installed on the first two floors and the top floor, but a full system throughout the building would have cost $192,000. MGM installed only the min...

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Image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994 | Public domain

]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/mgm-grand-fire-wp/9qqj-mgm-grand-fire-a-192-000-decision.mp3 0:06 2 full MGM Grand Fire: Jolly Green Giants Over Vegas https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire/ Photo credit Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain. The fire broke out during Exercise Red Flag '80, a military training operation that had brought CH-3E Jolly Green Giant helicopters to Nevada from Hurlburt Field, Florida. These aircraft, along with UH-1N Hueys from Nellis Air Force Base's 57th Wing, formed an impromptu rescue fl...

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Image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994 | Public domain

]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/mgm-grand-fire-wp/9qqj-mgm-grand-fire-jolly-green-giants-over-vegas.mp3 0:06 3 full MGM Grand Fire: The Smoldering Hours https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire/ Photo credit Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain. Investigators traced the fire to an electrical ground fault inside a refrigerated pastry display case that had been added to The Deli after the hotel's original construction. The fault caused the fire to smolder for hours inside the wall before it found fresh oxygen and exploded ...

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Image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994 | Public domain

]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/mgm-grand-fire-wp/9qqj-mgm-grand-fire-the-smoldering-hours.mp3 0:06 4 full MGM Grand Fire: 81 Days https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire/ Photo credit Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain. Within a week of the fire, Nevada Governor Robert List formed a commission to determine whether older hotels should be required to adopt newer fire safety rules. Then, just 81 days after the MGM disaster, another fire broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton, killing eight more people. ...

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Image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994 | Public domain

]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/mgm-grand-fire-wp/9qqj-mgm-grand-fire-81-days.mp3 0:06 5 full MGM Grand Fire: 30,000 Sprinklers https://qualla.com/mgm-grand-fire/ Photo credit Zereshk, CC BY-SA 3.0. The MGM Grand was rebuilt over eight months at a cost of $50 million and reopened in July 1981 as one of the safest hotels in the world. More than 30,000 sprinklers were installed, including four in most hotel rooms. Eight thousand speakers allowed fire safety instructions to rea...

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Image: Zereshk | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/q/j/mgm-grand-fire-wp/9qqj-mgm-grand-fire-30-000-sprinklers.mp3 0:06 6 full