Fire on the Las Vegas Strip

The first three times my wife and I stayed in Las Vegas we stayed at the Monte Carlo, located in the southern part of the Strip. Decent hotel with good rates (though I swear you could hear every toilet in the building flush). There was a little extra excitement this afternoon at the Monte Carlo:

LAS VEGAS -- During an afternoon news conference, Clark County Fire Chief Steve Smith said that no one was injured during a three-alarm blaze at the Monte Carlo.

A spectacular fire was raging atop the landmark Monte Carlo Resort and Casino on the Strip, consuming large portions of the complex's top floors and sending plumes of thick black smoke into the air.

Fire crews on top of the 3,000-room hotel at 3770 Las Vegas Blvd. S. are trying to contain the blaze, which broke out shortly after 11 a.m.

Four welders who were working on the roof were trapped there, but they were eventually rescued.

The blaze began at the top of the hotel and spread down into four different parts, including the roof, a top corner of the building and a couple of floors down from the roof. There about 3,000 people staying at the hotel, which is owned by MGM Mirage.

Guests were spotted looking out of hotel windows, and guests were gambling up until a recent evacuation.

Of course they were still gambling. For some of those people their hair could be on fire and they still wouldn't leave until you dragged them out.