{"id":222820,"date":"2022-07-25T09:21:56","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T14:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=222820"},"modified":"2022-07-25T13:43:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T18:43:46","slug":"el-cortez-casino-smoky-conditions-led-to-evacuation-in-downtown-las-vegas-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/el-cortez-casino-smoky-conditions-led-to-evacuation-in-downtown-las-vegas-video\/","title":{"rendered":"El Cortez Casino Smoky Conditions Led to Evacuation in Downtown Las Vegas &#8211; Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Players evacuated the El Cortez Casino Sunday afternoon after smoke broke out. There were no injuries reported.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_222823\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-222823\" data-style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-222823\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/el-cortez-pic-142x80.jpg\" alt=\"Las Vegas fire engine responds to El Cortez Casino\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-222823\"class=\"text-description\">Las Vegas fire engine responds to El Cortez Casino, pictured above. A smoky fire led to the casino floor being evacuated. (Image: <em>KSNV<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The smoke was seen from the ceiling of the casino floor, <em>KSNV<\/em>, a local TV station, reported.<\/p>\n<p>The incident may have been caused by a malfunction with the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, firefighters said. Employees suspected it may have been from a faulty air conditioning belt, <em>KSNV<\/em> reporter Brett Forrest said in a tweet.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\"><p><strong>We were playing dice and it was just a little bit of smoke for a minute or two, and then it escalated very quickly,&#8221; <\/strong>one player, James Call, was quoted by <em>KSNV<\/em>.<strong> &#8220;Dealers locked the tables and quickly rushed everyone out.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Firefighters responded quickly. The casino doors were opened to air out the casino floor. Fans were turned on, too.<\/p>\n<p>Another player reported it interrupted his craps game.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\"><p><strong>Playing craps in El Cortez and then all of a sudden the place is catching on fire,\u201d <\/strong>@PatrickE_Vegas tweeted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Doors are open at El Cortez and fans are running to blow out smoke. You can still see and smell it. Overheard staff saying it might have been an AC belt. Fireman on street said he thinks it was HVAC related too <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iWhmDzyZRH\">pic.twitter.com\/iWhmDzyZRH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Brett Forrest (@brettforrest89) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brettforrest89\/status\/1551381400225427458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>About El Cortez<\/h2>\n<p>El Cortez has gone adults-only. From April 1, El Cortez transitioned to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/el-cortez-in-downtown-las-vegas-to-become-adults-only-hotel-casino\/\">21-and-older<\/a> property.<\/p>\n<p>All guests booking hotel rooms must be 21 years of age or older, with valid state-issued identification. There are age verification checks at every entrance. The entire property, including all food and beverage outlets, are off-limits to under 21s.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2021, El Cortez also opened a high-limit room. A room features a wall-sized photo of the El Cortez neon sign.<\/p>\n<p>El Cortez is Las Vegas\u2019 oldest existing casino. It is located downtown on East Fremont Street.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fremont-street-experience-visitors-delayed-by-metal-detectors-safety-checks-in-vegas\/\">The Fremont Area<\/a> has also recently attempted to curb crime in the area. Crows must now pass through metal detectors, have their bags checked, and have IDs screened on weekends.\u00a0The new safeguards also include a weekend curfew on those under 21 years of age. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) has also upped its presence on and around Fremont on weekends.<\/p>\n<h2>Las Vegas Sees New Fire Chief<\/h2>\n<p>On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council approved Fernando Gray as the new chief of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/downtown-las-vegas-fire-leads-to-destruction-at-fremont-street-complex\/\">Las Vegas Fire &amp; Rescue Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gray began as a firefighter\/paramedic in Dallas, Texas. He was a driver engineer, lieutenant, budget and administration officer, EMS shift duty officer, captain, training officer, battalion chief, deputy chief, assistant fire chief of operations, and chief of staff for the department.<\/p>\n<p>Then, Gray was fire chief in Aurora, Colo. for five years. He graduated from the National Fire Academy\u2019s Executive Fire Officer Program.<\/p>\n<p>He also received a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal science from Texas A &amp; M University and a master\u2019s degree in public administration from Sam Houston State University. He also attended Harvard Kennedy School\u2019s Executive Education advanced program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Players evacuated the El Cortez Casino Sunday afternoon after smoke broke out. There were no injuries reported. The smoke was seen from the ceiling of the casino floor, KSNV, a local TV station, reported. The incident may have been caused by a malfunction with the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, firefighters said. Employees suspected [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":222823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886,18],"tags":[23,81972],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>El Cortez Casino Smoke Led to Evacuation in Downtown Vegas - Video<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Players evacuated the El Cortez Casino Sunday after smoke broke out. 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It may have been caused by an AC malfunction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/el-cortez-casino-smoky-conditions-led-to-evacuation-in-downtown-las-vegas-video\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-25T14:21:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-25T18:43:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/el-cortez-pic.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"986\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"555\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/el-cortez-casino-smoky-conditions-led-to-evacuation-in-downtown-las-vegas-video\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/el-cortez-casino-smoky-conditions-led-to-evacuation-in-downtown-las-vegas-video\/\",\"name\":\"El Cortez Casino Smoke Led to Evacuation in Downtown Vegas - Video\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/el-cortez-casino-smoky-conditions-led-to-evacuation-in-downtown-las-vegas-video\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/el-cortez-casino-smoky-conditions-led-to-evacuation-in-downtown-las-vegas-video\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/el-cortez-pic.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-25T14:21:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-25T18:43:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Players evacuated the El Cortez Casino Sunday after smoke broke out. 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