New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara was arraigned on Thursday along with three other men charged in connection with an alleged brawl at a Strip casino. [61], In January 1977, a fire broke out in the Stratford Hotel in Breckenridge, Minnesota, killing 17 people. Cline said he had nothing to do with any of those other fires, and he insisted what happened at the Hilton was never meant to harm. [1] The fire remains the deadliest in Houston's history. April 7, 1955 A spectacular fire heavily damaged one of the second floor wings of the under construction Moulin Rouge hotel. "I didnt want to face the truth. The son of a career Air Force veteran, Cline left his Bay Area home about 1980 and moved to Las Vegas, a glittering town he had once run away to as a young teen. [13] Memorials are still held to remember those who died in the fire; the most recent gathering occurred in December 2003, for the 40th anniversary of the blaze. Snows melted early and the spring rains never came. March 15, 2012 An arsonist set a fire in a room under renovation at the Golden Nugget. A woman who left her 5-year-old daughter inside a hot, locked bedroom, leading to the girls death, was sentenced Thursday to a minimum of 10 years in prison. But it wasnt meant to hurt anybody or kill anybody. CT scans revealed Lucy's 3.18-million-year-old bones had fractures . [19] The guests either fled through the corridors with coats over their heads or jumped from their rooms and were killed because the stairways were blocked by the fire. [44] The owner of the hotel, Virgil McVicker, believed that the fire was caused by an explosion in the boiler room. NEW YORK: Fourteen lives were lost in a fire last night [Dec. 3] in a cheap hotel in Chicago called the Lincoln. Cline banged on room doors to warn guests before heading downstairs to his work area. Guests broke windows and cried for help. On December 4, 1980, a fire broke out at the Stouffer's Inn of Westchester, a newly built hotel and conference center in Purchase, New York, killing 26 people. He works sorting casino playing cards and repackaging them to be sold to tourists. [65] Frederick Weiler Blady, a 36-year-old drifter from New Jersey, was arrested and charged with arson in connection with this fire and with a previous fire at the same hotel on October 5, 1978. Video shows flames engulfing the building and dark smoke billowing up from the hotel. Most bodies were charred beyond recognition; 84 charred bodies were found in the casino, five in the lobby area, three in an elevator and one in a guest room on the west side of the hotel. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google His former client never helped himself, either. "I did it. Shortly after 8 p.m., firetrucks surrounded the burning hotel. District Judge Michelle Leavitt set another hearing for March 9 to appoint him a standby attorney through the Clark County public defenders office. This was done, not only as a fitting tribute to the dead, but as an inspiration to the living. But it was the testimony of a red-haired woman early in the trial that sealed Clines fate, two jurors recalled. He was trying to be a hero.". There were 245 people staying at the hotel on the night of the fire. The flames grew fast, climbing the curtains and igniting the couch. Retired Las Vegas police homicide Detective Chuck Lee, who got Clines confession during a polygraph test, always believed Cline intentionally set the deadly fire, perhaps as part of a homosexual encounter in that eighth-floor elevator lobby. Prosecutors charged Cline with arson and eight counts of first-degree murder. [32] According to fire captain Harold Cosgrove, 30 people were rescued by jumping onto nets and 27 were carried down ladders. One was held overnight for observation, the release said, and discharged Sunday. 1986 Thomas Edward Little Owl, born on a Montana Indian reservation, was convicted of setting a string of fires at Strip hotels in early 1986. Yet even if Clines new story is taken at face value, the dangerous nature of his act speaks for itself. The Nevada Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday over a rule change in Clark Countys Family Court that makes it easier to close hearings to the public. [28] According to the Chicago Fire Department the fire started either in the walls or in the ceiling at around 12:15am, but they were not notified until 12:35am. Hockey Leagues 1st Star of the Month. Guests broke windows and cried for help. Philip Cline tries not to think of that day 30 years ago. 400,000 years ago . [17], On January 3, 1940, a fire broke out in the aging Marlborough Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing 19 people. On Sunday, December 29, 1963, a fire broke out in the 13-floor Hotel Roosevelt in Jacksonville, Florida, killing 22 people. [57] The fire's intense heat melted the face of the clock in the tower of the Morgan County Courthouse. NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) Flames ripped through a section of a Newport hotel forcing guests to evacuate Monday night. Dec 3, 2021. Veranda House Hotel did not have a fire sprinkler system, which it was not required to have when it was built, officials said. Gentlemen, it has been the custom to erect monuments to those who have done noble deeds in all ages. Don Duncan, Washington: The First One Hundred Years: 1889-1989 (Seattle: The Seattle Times, 1989), 108. [1] The fire started in the two-level conference center of the hotel, adjacent to the four-story, 365-room hotel tower. The historic Veranda House Hotel on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, was damaged Saturday after a huge blaze ripped through the building. The deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history killed 119 people 70 years ago this week and led to new and lasting fire safety standards for hotels and other public buildings. After a day of recovering the dead, firefighters found 20 residents dead in their beds from smoke inhalation. Arson was suspected; there had been two other fires at the building in the previous two months. The hotel reopened on April 4, 1981, four months after the fire. But 1910 was also the driest year in anyone's memory. Immediately after the disaster that killed 119 people, cities across the country . Just after 7:00 on the morning of November 21, 1980, a fire broke out in a restaurant known as The Deli. Considered one of Chicago's worst flophouse blazes,[37] a fire broke out in the five-story Barton Hotel on West Madison[38] on February 12, 1955, killing 29 people and gutting the hotel, a 49-year-old structure with 336 tiny 4ftx6ft rooms with 7-ft high chicken-wire ceilings, where the nightly rate was 65cents per person. At the time, the Hotel Roosevelt was one of two luxury hotels in the city's downtown, with many restaurants and businesses on its ground floor, including a ballroom and a barber shop. Arnold Hardy, a 26-year-old graduate student at Georgia Tech, became the first amateur to win a Pulitzer Prize for Photography for his snapshot of a woman, later identified as survivor Daisy McCumber, in mid-air after jumping from the 11th floor of the hotel during the fire. However, 21 of the people who died in the fire died in their beds of smoke inhalation; the other fatality was assistant chief J.R. Romedy of the Jacksonville Fire Department, who died of a heart attack on the scene during the rescue effort. Clines roommate had warned him not to smoke it all at once advice he ignored. Jurors in the criminal case werent swayed by Kellys argument about the hotel being responsible, because the building was up to the current fire codes, the jury foreman said. The Hotel Roosevelt fire, on December 29, 1963, [1] was the worst fire that Jacksonville, Florida, had seen since the Great Fire of 1901, [2] and it contributed to the worst one-day death toll in the city's history: 22 people died, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning. [52] He was found guilty of starting a fire in at least two places in the hotel and was imprisoned for life, although he never admitted causing the fire. Several people were killed leaping from the building, including William Oscar Webster, a railroad engineer from Columbus, Georgia, who had jumped from a fourth-floor window. Post-Dispatch file photo A Post-Dispatch drawing of the main dining hall on the third floor. Because of fire doors being left open and the nearby combustible materials, the fire spread very rapidly. Gather around the fire, or enjoy a more private setting with couches and umbrellas. 75 people died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning and 4 from smoke inhalation alone; only 4 people died as a result of burns.[74]. But Monday's blaze at the Wayfinder Hotel (which everyone still calls the Mainstay) had the potential to be disastrous. The inquiry report found that fire spread from new furniture temporarily stacked in a ballroom of size 5.59.41.8m; the furniture consisted of dressers made of wood and particle board, mattresses and sofa beds, packed in cartons. he said. On January 10, 1883, a fire destroyed the Newhall House Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 71 people. The second time Hickling came out his shirt was on fire, but he went back a third time upon hearing screams from an upper window of one of the waitresses from the hotel bar. [10], Immediately after the fire many local Jacksonville residents, churches and businesses took in displaced hotel guests, and provided food and clothes to those displaced.[6]. After years of development, the four-story Home2 Suites by Hilton was on track to open this summer in Camarillo until it all went up in smoke during a . Caught unawares, many people were trapped on the upper floors, and most of the deaths were among people forced to jump. The early morning. The other nine victims were buried in one large, mass grave. [11], The former Hotel Roosevelt, located on Adams Street in downtown, is still standing. On November 21, 1980, a fire broke out in the MGM Grand Hotel (now Bally's Las Vegas) in Paradise, Nevada, killing 85 people,[1] most through smoke inhalation. By June, the woods were on fire in a hundred different places. "A lot of people, I think they think I did it on purpose, and it wasnt done on purpose," he said. Jun 05, 2016 at 3:00 pm. A MASSIVE fire erupted at a high-rise Dublin hotel sending burning debris raining onto the street as guests ran screaming overnight. 34 people died and 44 were injured, including 14 firemen. [10][11] Among the dead were seven Michigan state legislators: state senator John Leidlein and state representatives T. Henry Howlett, Charles D. Parker, Vern Voorhees, John W. Goodwine, Don E. Sias, and D. Knox Hanna, who were in town for a special session of the state legislature. A few broke the window panes and jumped out, or escaped down the fire escape. [24], On January 16, 1945, a fire at the General Clark Hotel on the north side of the loop in Chicago, Illinois, killed 14 people. It was established that the fire originated in a deliberate act of arson; three people were convicted for this. . Support Centre Allen Bartz staged a. During a recent interview in a drab cinder-block meeting room at High Desert State Prison, where Cline is serving eight consecutive life terms, he emphasized how sorry he was for what happened and insisted he never intended to hurt anyone. The New County Hotel, on County Place in Perth city centre, suffered a fire in its kitchen six years ago after a dishwasher caught alight. A handful of people were treated for smoke inhalation, including hotel executive Herb McDonald. [55] The temperature at the time of the fire was well below zero; firefighters had to change clothes frequently after being drenched thawing out hoses and hydrants, and ice axes were used to search for victims. Early on Sunday, Feb. 5, 1950, as the Browning basketball team and others in The Montana Hotel slept, a furnace in the hotel exploded. Dec. 7, 1996, marks the 50th anniversary of what to date has been the. Seven people died from smoke inhalation, three of them in the eighth-floor elevator lobby where the blaze began. Earle Hotel - Lackawanna Valley House fire January 28, 1951. There's a reason that the death toll of the Winecoff hotel fire in 1946 has never been surpassed. Firefighters respond Saturday to a blaze at the Veranda House Hotel on Nantucket Island, Mass. But she saw no sign of fire until after she returned to her room with the ice, said Kelley, who had watched the flames crawl up the Hilton while he was working at McCarran International Airport. Dubai (AFP) - A huge fire ripped through a luxury Dubai hotel Thursday night, injuring 16 people, just a few hours before the emirate celebrated the new year with a spectacular fireworks. Dave E. Williams recounts the deadliest hotel fire to date, which claimed 119 lives and injured over 100 people in Atlanta. 1998 The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel reported $1 million in damages from a two-alarm fire that forced the evacuation of six floors, but no one was injured. Darting into the hellish cauldron of flame, smoke and noxious gases, he reached the girl and got her out through the window, whence she was speedily rescued; but heroic Hickling sank back into the pit of death and was seen no more alive. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire happened more than 100 years ago. Enforcement of these codes led to the conversion or abandonment of scores of single-room-occupancy (SRO) hotels in downtown Seattle. Philippines hotel fire reveals neglect of safety standards. It was the worst fire in that city since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, killing 22 and injuring 27. "I got scared.". I says that not only we in Vernon, but the whole world is richer for this deed of heroism. Cameron House has been ordered to pay 500,000 after admitting to breaches of. In all of the statements, he wrote how he had discovered the fire, called the operator and banged on doors. Sunday, Dec. 10, marks the 40th anniversary of the Wenonah Hotel fire, the deadliest fire in Bay County history, claiming the lives of 10 people and injuring dozens of others. Flames shot through the building. January 13 is the 110th anniversary of the Rhoads Opera House Fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. An updated report Sunday said a fourth firefighter was also seen at a nearby hospital. We're fortunate to live in a community that sees only occasional four- or five-alarm fires, requiring help from multiple communities. But in his statement to police, he made what authorities considered a Freudian slip. [10], On May 16, 1938,[14] a fire broke out in the Terminal Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, killing 35 people, although some sources claim the death toll was either 27 or 34. Another victim, Bruce Glenn, 47, of Plymouth, Minn., fell or jumped to his death from a 16th-floor window. Prosecutors pushed for the death penalty. [64] The station of the first companies due at the scene was only 100 feet down an alley to the southeast of the hotel, yet they saw no smoke or fire when they arrived about two minutes later. EDITORS NOTE: This story has been upgraded with files from the Vernon and District Family History Society, The headstone erected for nine of the victims in Vernons Pleasant Valley Cemetery, including hero Archie Hickling, killed in the Aug. 10, 1909, fire at the Okanagan Hotel in downtown Vernon. Firefighters rescued some people from the. He remembered a security guard stopping by with a fire extinguisher that didnt work. They had taken a Land Rover out that day to map in another locality. Willey was later convicted of one count of aggravated arson and 10 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to 14-to-50 years at Mansfield Reformatory. [1] The fire started at 1:17am and spread rapidly; the flames were reported to be very intense and many bodies were burned beyond recognition. On June 19, 1946, two weeks after the La Salle Hotel fire, a fire broke out in the six-story 200-room Canfield Hotel in Dubuque, Iowa, killing 19 people. [87], On October 31, 2006, a fire in the 84-year-old Mizpah Hotel in Reno, Nevada, killed 12 people. [59], On January 10, 1976, a fire broke out in the Hotel Pathfinder in Fremont, Nebraska, killing 20 people. Albers or former disgruntled hotel manager Alex Smith as the person responsible for the fire. It was the first hotel in Las Vegas where black entertainers who performed on the Strip could stay. General view of the main floor lobby and mezzanine of the LaSalle Hotel, Chicago, Ill., discloses scarred walls and fire-charred debris a few hours after firemen completed their battle, June 5, 1946. Jon Gruden still must use arbitration, NFL argues, Supreme Court weighs arguments challenging closure of Family Court hearings, Woman sentenced after daughter died in hot, locked bedroom, Suspect in 2 Las Vegas killings could face death penalty, Alvin Kamara, 3 others plead not guilty to battery charges, Alleged cult leader pleads not guilty to sex assault charges, Judge allows Robert Telles to represent himself in murder case, Henry Ruggs gets new preliminary hearing date in fatal DUI case, Driver in deadly hit-and-run sentenced to prison, Temporary credit score ban upheld by Nevada Supreme Court. On January 28, 1978, a fire broke out in the six-story Coates House Hotel at 1005 Broadway in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, killing 20 people and injuring at least six. [1] The fire started around 11:30pm in a closet near the cocktail lounge on the ground floor and destroyed the four-story section of the building, which was built in 1891. The city block where Newall house was located became Milwaukee's "death block" when Fire Chief James Foley and three firemen died there in 1903. [29][30] Two-thirds of hotel fire deaths in 1946 occurred in the La Salle fire and that in the Winecoff in Atlanta. The fire was caused by the ignition of garbage in closet above the boiler. The extent of the fire was minimal but it created considerable thick smoke, which hampered rescue efforts. Nothing was ever proven. Guests were warned not to jump by a county patrol officer, who drove on the sidewalk and used his microphone to broadcast; "Don't jump. One witness recounted how she "grabbed whatever" & [1] It was the city's deadliest fire. [75] It spread rapidly because of a lack of sufficient sprinklers and the use of highly flammable carpeting and wall coverings; New York had no statewide fire code at the time. Hickling rescued three people before perishing in the blaze. (Herald archives.) Bedsheets tied into makeshift ropes hung from windows. Crews in Texarkana, Texas responded to a fire at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on Stateline Avenue Tuesday, May 10, 2022. While the fire primarily damaged the second floor casino and adjacent restaurants, most of the deaths were on the upper floors of the hotel, and were caused by smoke inhalation. Shortly after 8 p.m., firetrucks surrounded the burning hotel. [70] No one was ever charged with the crime; in 2015 suspicions were raised that Phillips himself, who had since become the town's fire chief, might have set the fire. 31 people were treated at Tyrone Hospital, including 28 volunteer firefighters, mainly for frostbite and smoke inhalation rather than burns. ", The Veranda House Hotel's loss will be a blow to the island of Nantucket, according to The Boston Globe. After the emotional interview, the prison guards looked at each other and made a note to put Cline on suicide watch the rest of the day, and again on Thursday the anniversary of the fire. "He just couldnt tell the same story twice.". [67] Seven of the fatalities were Canadian;[68] more than 130 Canadians were staying in the hotel at the time on a holiday shopping trip. A link has been emailed to you - check your inbox. The garbage caught fire and became a ball of fire that exploded in "volcanic violence".[20]. [1] As he watched the Las Vegas Hilton burn the night of Feb. 10, 1981, the 23-year-old figured he had it coming. ATLANTA Tuesday marks 75 years since over 100 people lost their lives in what remains the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history. The explosion was caused by a gas leak from a main pipe in Boylston Street that seeped into the hotel's basement. Theres nothing I can say or do that will bring them back.". Associated Press, Cafe Proprietor Found Guilty in Hotel Fire. Anderson, bakers assistant; Julius Fuerst, bartender; M. Chabtree, labourer; George Gannett, cement worker; George McKay, cement worker; George Seltgast, painter; Archibald Hickling, labourer; Wm. As he watched the horror unfold, Cline thought to himself that he had it coming. The veteran homicide detective called his bluff, and Cline broke down: He said he was on the couch having sex with a man named Joe. This fire spurred the City Council to enact stringent new fire codes, which forces hotel and apartment owners to add sprinklers and fire doors, and abide by other fire codes or be forced to close. About 200 others were injured in the blaze. [18], Fifteen fire engines and five trucks containing some 130 firemen were called to the fire in icy January conditions, temperature 5C. The fire was mostly extinguished at about 8 p.m. Saturday more than 14 hours after it began. Over 110 people - including 30 children - died in the blaze. (Roger Knox - Black Press), Monument to Archie Hicklings bravery and memory on Aug. 10, 1909 erected in Vernon Park. And thats what messes with me the most, is I cant undo what I did and bring them eight people back to their families. [6], The Hotel Adams in Phoenix, Arizona was completely destroyed by an early morning fire which started in the hotel's basement. The hotel was a 60-year-old wooden building of five floors with 60 rooms and was a "flophouse" housing many impoverished and elderly people. In 1999, a plaque was added to the back of the Hickling monument containing the names of 10 of the 11 men who perished: Wilbur Smith, carpenter; J.J. Funston, labourer; Jas. [1] 26 were injured, 8 of them critically. Officials said in the release Sunday that the property was last inspected on April 12, when officials found it had a functioning alarm system and fire extinguishers. Scott Rutherford and several elementary school students were inside the building taking exams, and were among those evacuated to safety. Firefighting efforts were hampered by narrow streets and low water pressure and by 12:30 a.m. the fire had spread across the entire 300-foot front of the building. A man who left the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash in September was sentenced Monday to between two and five years in prison. 2003 The historic Moulin Rouge hotel and casino on West Bonanza Road burned to the ground in May. [1], In December 1977, a fire broke out in the Wenonah Hotel in Bay City, Michigan, killing 10 people.[1][62]. Philip Bruce Cline was convicted of arson and is serving eight life terms, plus 15 years in state prison. At the time, it was the third fire that the hotel suffered in several weeks, but fire investigators did not connect the trio of blazes. People stick their heads out of the windows at the LaSalle Hotel during a fire on June 5, 1946. In 2009, Vernon filmmaker Bruce Mol produced a movie called When Duty Calls The Story of The Okanagan Hotel Fire of 1909, Vernon, B.C. Property damage to the Hotel Roosevelt was immense, and the hotel was closed in 1964, with most of the hotel's businesses and staff relocating to the equally upscale Hotel George Washington. Dana Fuller, 25, and Terry Brown, 21, had gone into the burning apartment building in downtown Bellows Falls to find the trapped residents in the rundown hotel. Fires like Saturday's are a rare occurrence on the Strip, where a deadly blaze at what is now Bally's in 1980 prompted major updates in fire safety design and equipment at resorts. News From 110 Years Ago: 02/25/2023 Feb 25, 2023 - FIRE THOUGHT to have started in the cooking room of the domestic science department at the Boardman Avenue School building, broke out. On June 19, 1946, two weeks after the La Salle Hotel fire, a fire broke out in the six-story 200-room Canfield Hotel in Dubuque, Iowa, killing 19 people. No official cause was ever listed for the 1910 fire. HONESDALE., Pa., Nov. 5 A fire that was considered suspicious swept a landmark 19th century hotel in northeastern Pennsylvania today and at least 12 persons were believed dead, officials said . Nathan Chasing Horse pleaded not guilty Wednesday to sexual assault charges and invoked his right to a speedy trial. June 17, 1960 El Rancho Vegas burned to the ground, as entertainers Pearl Bailey and Betty Grable fled the flames. (Vernon and District Family History Society - photo). Kelly said Cline deserves a chance at freedom, but he doubted the governor, attorney general and state Supreme Court justices who comprise the Pardons Board would ever release someone convicted of killing eight people in a Las Vegas hotel fire. "The smoke on the ceiling started getting darker and darker and lower and lower, he said. SPARE CHANGE: Wayfinder fire is a reminder of blazes I've covered in the past. You dont get away with nothing, you know. In March 1982, a fire broke out in the Westchase Hilton Hotel in Houston, Texas. The spacecraft is now traveling at roughly 67,000 mph (108,000 kph) on a trajectory that will orbit the Sun and bring it back toward Earth in October 2022 for a gravity assist. The building was renovated in recent years and is now known as The Carling, an upscale apartment residence. A marker is also erected in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery commemorating the dead, though only nine are on the marker. Like us on Facebook. Social Hour. Even now he struggles to find the words he would say to the families he changed forever. He bounced around casinos, including the El Cortez and MGM Grand, before becoming a $39-a-day busboy at the Hilton about six weeks before the fire. Their bravery will not go unnoticed. By then his growing rap sheet included charges of possessing stolen property, possessing burglary tools and embezzlement. 29 people died in the fire, many of them charred beyond recognition. Since the conversion, paranormal activity has frequently been reported in the building, including the smell of smoke during the night, running on the upper floors, lights turning on and off, and apparitions. "He wasnt trying to hurt anybody. A Scottish luxury hotel has been fined half a million pounds over a fire that claimed the lives of two guests. Firefighters received a report that the hotel, which is. Atlanta fire fighters could reach only up to the eighth floor with ladders, and the nets they had spread could not hold many who jumped into themholding capacity was limited to jumps from up to 70ftand many people died on the sidewalks behind the hotel. No arrests were made in this case. Over a ten-year period, she underwent seven surgeries and lost a leg, but still worked until retirement age and lived until 1992. For years the celebrated soprano Adelina Patti kept a standing suite of rooms on the third floor . ET). The city and fire department were cleared of liability in nearly 40 lawsuits, which were seeking $10 million in damages related to the fire. "They all entered into life threatening conditions in order to warn, rescue and remove people within the building. [33], On December 7, 1946, a fire broke out in the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, killing 119 people. [76] The fire was said to be a deliberate act but no one was convicted of causing it. [53] The majority of the occupants of the hotel at the time were attending three different banquets on the ground floor and those 650 or so people were easily evacuated. He joined other workers in the employee parking lot and watched the brilliant flames climbing the side of the building, then the largest hotel in the world with 2,783 rooms. It was popularly called "America's Hotel Death," according to Esquire. The sky was ablaze. [44], On May 8, 1969, The New Ocean House in Swampscott, Massachusetts was destroyed by a fire. [16] The hotel was rebuilt in 1938 and not included in the Hotel Row District. [30] The hotel was refurbished after the fire and was finally demolished in July 1976; its lot is now occupied by the Two North LaSalle office building. [1][25][27] The fire began in the Silver Grill Cocktail Lounge on the lower floor on the LaSalle Street side adjacent to the lobby, spread quickly through the highly varnished wood paneling in the lounge and the mezzanine balcony overlooking the lobby, and rose through stairwells and shafts. The coffee waiter who was the chief suspect was arrested and initially convicted by the jury, but was later released by the judge for lack of evidence. "We couldnt go with the death penalty, because we didnt think he did anything to hurt anybody," Kelley said. The victims are . July 01, 2005. In this Nov. 21, 1980, file photo, guests are evacuated during the MGM Grand hotel fire. [15] The fire broke out in the basement and shortly afterwards a bellhop heard a kitchen boy yell, "O Lawdy, fire". Mar 25, 2011. iStock / iStock. The worst fire in Rutland City s history broke out 40 years ago this month at a former four-story hotel, leaving a hole that has yet to be filled in the Burned into memory Historic and deadly Vermont hotel fire is remembered four decades later | News | rutlandherald.com Skip to main content You have permission to edit this article.