Las Vegas Sun

November 10, 2009

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Sun Flashbacks: Photo editor recalls fire at MGM

Saturday, July 1, 2000 | 1:56 a.m.

Don Ploke, a photographer and photo editor from 1977-1988, remembers the photo coverage of the tragic MGM fire in November 1980:

"When the MGM (now Bally's) burned about 20 years ago, every photographer we had went to the scene. We shot from the ground and the air, as (the late) Ken Jones went up in a helicopter to take photos.

"You could aim your camera almost anywhere and get great shots because there was so much going on.

"About 9 a.m., I decided to head back to the paper and develop what I had. Myram Borders, who ran the United Press International office in the Sun building, told me to print up everything I had because they were going to send every photo out.

"Later, I found out that the Associated Press guys in an office at the Review-Journal had been on the phone with Myram and had been going nuts. None of the R-J photographers had come back to their paper to develop their shots.

"As a result, every UPI paper in the country beat every AP paper out on the street that day with MGM fire photos. I was praised for my foresight to leave the scene and come back to develop what I had. But it was no genius on my part -- I just ran out of film."

Today, Don Ploke is retired.

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