Saturday afternoon was a normal 100 degree day for July in Las Vegas when the 14th floor pool deck was set ablaze at the Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas, an Autograph Collection property affiliated with Marriott.
Early indications are the fire at the Bamboo Pool, one of three pools at the 2,995 room resort, may have started with a cigarette tossed into a fake tree plant vase or a lighted cigarette tossed from a balcony or window above onto a cabana or fake tree on the pool deck. The pool’s fake trees are made of high density foam and plastic and burn easily, according to Las Vegas fire chief Greg Cassell. Once it got going, the blaze spread quickly from tree to tree.
The fire was reported at 12:16 pm and extinguished by 12:47pm. Las Vegas Boulevard was shut down for 45 minutes.
The Las Vegas Sun has a series of fire photos here. The LV Sun also has an overview story of the fire here. Interesting to read guest’s reaction to the fire and it sounds like there was a delay before the fire alarm was sounded for guest evacuation.
You would not know there was a fire from the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas website.
Las Vegas never sleeps and the Bamboo Pool was reopened within 24 hours. The burn area is cordoned off for Las Vegas Fire Department investigation.
I can only imagine the pool is catering to guests with an offbeat sense of smell, like Robert Duvall’s character from Apocalypse Now – “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.â€
Google Images Las Vegas Cosmopolitan Bamboo Pool Fire.
