Every now and then I like to watch old clips of Elvis in concert. Last night I was watching one from a star-studded engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, where he had 636 consecutive sold-out shows over a seven-year period.
Alas, this post isn’t about Elvis.
After watching the clip, I was curious to know if the International was still open. I learned that it’s gone through ownership and name changes over the years. Today it’s called the Westgate Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, and is one block from the world-famous Las Vegas Strip.
What I also learned is that there was a fire at the hotel on February 10, 1981 started by a young man who was originally from the Bay Area.
At the time of the fire, the 23-year-old busboy, Philip Cline, was hailed a hero for banging on hotel doors, in an effort to alert guests about the fire. But that went up in smoke once investigators noticed inconsistencies in his story.
He was accused of deliberately lighting curtains on fire in an elevator lobby, which quickly spread to a number of floors in the hotel, killing eight people in the process. It’s believed that one of the victims may have jumped from an upper floor down to a deck below.
Cline, now 64, is currently serving eight life sentences without parole in Nevada.
Singer Andy Williams, who was performing at the hotel said, “The thing that really terrified me was looking out the back door and seeing that whole east wing elevator shaft on fire, and people waving electric lamps out the window. People looked like they were getting ready to leave their windows.”
Natalie Cole, who was scheduled to perform that evening, was treated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation.
Today Cline says that he inadvertently started the fire during a tryst with another man, claiming a lighted joint they were smoking accidentally touched the curtain in the elevator lobby.
Investigators believe he started the fire using a lighter.
Just three months before the fire at the International, the MGM Grand (now Bally’s) sustained a fire that started in the hotel’s restaurant, killing eighty-seven and injuring hundreds.
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