Fire at Imperial Palace hotel causes $500,000 in damage

Beth Slovic

Tuesday, July 6, 2004 | 9:15 a.m.

An overheated part in an escalator caused a fire that did an estimated $500,000 in damage at the Imperial Palace on the Las Vegas Strip at the start of the July 4th weekend.

There were no reports of injuries. Parts of the casino were evacuated shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, when 80 firefighters arrived, Clark County Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Taylor said.

The fire appeared to have started between the third and fifth floors, Taylor said.

The flames, he said, "came up halfway over the entire flight."

Northbound lanes on Las Vegas Boulevard South between Flamingo and the Forum Shops were closed.

Guests said they did not hear alarms and no sprinklers went off, Taylor said.

A family of three from Glasgow, Scotland, returning from a visit to the Grand Canyon, were turned away by Metro Police in the rear parking lot. They said they were leaving the next day for Los Angeles.

"It (the fire) spoiled the rest of the night," said father Robert Stirrup, who, with his wife, Ina, and daughter, Laura, were planning to go to the Stratosphere later Friday night.

A group of young women from North Dakota had checked into the hotel about 3 p.m. on their first visit to Las Vegas. Sitting on the balcony facing the hotel's pool, they heard a hotel employee announce an evacuation. They stayed on the balcony until a woman on the pool deck shouted up to them that there was a fire.

One of them called her parents shortly after 6 p.m.

"They don't believe us, so we took lots of pictures," Jess Brosz, 22, said.

Brad Stone, a paramedic from Ohio, and his wife, Lori, said they didn't hear alarms, but saw plenty of smoke.

"The smoke was so thick in there you couldn't see your hand in front of your face and there was still no alarm," Brad Stone said.

Military veteran Ellsworth Drouillard of Las Vegas was in the sports book when someone announced there was a fire and pointed to an exit. The evacuation was orderly, he said.

A couple from South Dakota returned to the hotel after a tour of Hoover Dam, saw the smoke and went to their rooms. When they called down to make a restaurant reservation, they were told the hotel was being evacuated.

"We heard no alarms," Laurel Timmerman said. "I'm mad."

Dana Timmerman said that the exit lights were not on and no one said anything when they walked into the hotel.

"At least the gurneys are empty," Laura Timmerman said, watching as firefighters pulled away.