Posted on: March 26, 2024, 11:35h.
Last updated on: March 27, 2024, 12:25h.
The Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas caught on fire early Tuesday after an apparent elevator malfunction. There were no injuries, but the smoky fire temporarily shut down the property.
The fire became apparent at about 2:30 a.m. Alarms sounded and hotel employees knocked on doors to alert the guests.
Hotel visitors awoke from their slumber and quickly went downstairs.
While firefighters brought the fire under control, guests stayed in the hotel lobby or went to their cars until they were allowed back upstairs to gather their personal belongings.
The fire was quickly doused by crews from the Clark County Fire Department. By 6 a.m., most of the responding firefighters finished their tasks and left the hotel to return to their stations.
Guests Reimbursed
All of the hotel’s guests were told to relocate to another hotel and were reimbursed for the interrupted night’s stay.
One visitor, Craig Hudson of California, told Las Vegas TV station KVVU he first believed the fire alarms were caused by some kind of malfunction. But once in the hallway, visitors revealed to him that the alarm went off because of an electrical fire.
While in his room’s bathroom, he also could smell what appeared to be an electrical fire.
Ethan Romero, also from California, and his father were in a hallway and spotted smoke billowing from an elevator.
Sacred of Elevator Fire
“We were pretty scared,” Romero revealed. “Thankfully, we saw an exit, and we saw the stairway.”
Romero also recalled the challenges he has faced on his family vacation.
It’s funny, because as we were leaving Northridge, there was flooding and hail. And, now this,” Romero told KVVU. “Who knows what’s next? An earthquake? We’ll see.”
The fire forced the Romero family to immediately evacuate from the hotel until firefighters completely extinguished the blaze.
“We’ve been outside for the past two or three hours,” Romero told KVVU during the middle of the night. “I don’t even know what time it is right now.”
He added that the hotel’s offer to reimburse guests “would make this right.”
There is no immediate word when the hotel will reopen, nor did the hotel detail the damage caused by the fire. It also is unclear how much it will cost the hotel to repair the property.
The hotel is situated in Las Vegas near Warm Springs Road and Route 215. The property is a five-minute drive from Harry Reid International Airport.