This page is dedicated to the 84 people that lost their lives in the fire at the origanl MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. There are some photos of the fire scene below. Please note, out of respect, there are no pictures of fire victims posted on my site.

On the morning of November 21, 1980 at approximately 07:10 hrs, a fire broke out in a delicatessen at what was then the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, a 26-story resort with over 2,000 hotel rooms. About 5,000 people were in the hotel and casino at the time of the fire.

Smoke and fire spread through the building. Eighty-four people were killed and 679 injured, including tourists and employees. Most fire damage occurred in the namesake casino on the second floor and its adjacent restaurants, although most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation in the upper rooms of the hotel. If firefighters had not extinguished the blaze when they did, the building probably would have been burned to the ground.  As it was, the fire was considered to have been the second-worst hotel fire in U.S. history.

According to the official report by the Clark County, Nevada Fire Department, the cause of the fire was an improperly grounded electrical wire. The fire smoldered for hours before breaking out, and then it flashed through the casino area. Only a minor fraction of the hotel had been fitted with a sprinkler system; this was not legally required for buildings built before 1979, and the MGM Grand had opened in 1973. Guests only learned of the fire upon actually seeing smoke or hearing other guests warn them; the hotel's alarm system was destroyed before fire alarms could activate. Eventually USD $223 million in legal settlements was paid out as a result of the disaster.

The MGM Grand was repaired and then sold to Bally's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment), which changed the facility's name to "Bally's Las Vegas." Subsequently, the present MGM Grand hotel-casino was built about a mile south, at the northeast corner of the Las Vegas Strip and Tropicana Avenue.

You can read the actual fire report & investigation by clicking on the link below. The pictures below are from the LV Review Journal, myself, and assorted sources on the web via Google.com

MGM Grand Las Vegas 11/21/1980 Fire Clark County F.D. Final Report

I was here June 9,2004 Its Now Bally's. Ironically there was a fire truck & ambulance at the side entrance when I was there
It was parked where the ladder truck is in this picture (Lower left corner by center of tower).
See picture below..

Note: These guys are not firemen, the are construction workers that risked their lives to help others.

Again, just people helping out to save strangers.

The valet parking area Nov 21,1980

Charred Slot Machines