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Fast-burning fake palm trees fueled blaze at The Cosmopolitan

The blaze started Saturday around noon on an outdoor roof top deck on the 14th floor of the hotel. The fire engulfed the poolside space and set cabanas and decorative palm trees on fire.

Officials looked at hotel surveillance video and believe one of the trees caught fire first and set a chain reaction that created a large blaze.

Clark County Battalion Chief Leo Durkin said, the trees were made from a high-density foam that takes effort to ignite, but once the foam catches fire, it burns fast and with a lot of heat, according to the Associated Press.

“We are not surprised when we see these products and the way they react to fire,” he said.

The fire also caused a lot of smoke. A plume of black smoke visible to terrified hotel guests. The smoke had entered parts of the hotel through cracked windows in guest rooms.

One person was treated at the hotel and another was transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

Authorities are still investigating what started the fire.

String lights were hung from the trees, but Durkin says it’s unclear if the cause of the fire might have been electrical.

“Had we not had the wind, this might have been a much smaller problem,” said Durkin. “Once it got going, it jumped from tree to tree.”

The fire started in a cabana and quickly burned the pool’s surrounding decorative trees, which are made of high-density foam and plastic, said Fire Chief Greg Cassell to the Las Vegas Sun.

“[The trunk is made of] Styrofoam and it burns rapidly and the palm fronds were rubber and plastic synthetic-type stuff, so once the fire went up the tree and out on the bottom side of the fronds, those fronds dripped flaming balls back down that caught other chairs on fire and more trees,” said Clark County Fire Chief Greg Cassell, according to KSNV.

Clark County codes regulate the use of cabanas and temporary outdoor shelters, and ban open flames and electrical cooking devices on pool decks. Decorations such as fake palm trees or patio furniture aren’t inspected.

Las Vegas area has prided itself on intense firefighting and stringent building codes since a 1980 fire at the original MGM Grand hotel killed 87 people.

The Cosmopolitan is two minutes away from a fire station with led to a speedy response. Durkin said the proximity of a fire station contributed to the good outcome.

The fire department doused the fire in about 30 minutes with more than 100 firefighters and 17 rescue vehicles at the hotel.

The Cosmopolitan says it reopened its Bamboo Pool area Sunday.

A statement from the hotel referred all questions about the ongoing investigation to the Clark County Fire Department.

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