LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It is the 39th anniversary of the MGM Grand (now Bally's) fire that killed 87 people and injured more than 700.
The fire on Nov. 21, 1980, started in a deli on the casino level. It spread upward through the hotel's ventilation system. Many people who died were killed by smoke or carbon monoxide.
That fire, along with the fire at the Las Vegas Hilton three months later, led to stricter fire regulations in Clark County and around the world.
The fire is still the third-worst hotel fire in modern U.S. history.
The Winecoff Hotel Fire in Atlanta in 1946 killed 119 people and the San Juan Dupont Plaza Hotel Fire in 1986 killed 97 people.
