70 firefighters respond to Excalibur small fire in basement

Part of Tropicana Avenue and its Interstate 15 offramp were closed and access to the Excalibur was briefly halted because of a basement fire at the Strip resort Saturday morning.

About 70 Clark County firefighters responded to the garbage fire at the resort shortly before 11 a.m. and treated it as a more serious, two-alarm call when they found the property’s sprinkler system hadn’t completely extinguished the fire, according to the Fire Department.

Firefighters said the fire likely originated in a linen cart and, though it was quickly contained, smoke traveled to other areas.

MGM Resorts International spokeswoman Yvette Monet said in an email that the sprinklers contained the fire until fire crews arrived.

“There were no injuries to employees or guests, although employees were removed from the area for precaution of safety,” she wrote. “Hotel tower and casino operations were unaffected, although some guests entering the resort were briefly held outside while investigators made sure the incident was under control.”

Normal guest operations quickly resumed, but some basement employee areas remained closed while investigators worked to determine the cause of the incident.

Eastbound Tropicana Avenue and its I-15 offramp were briefly closed to accommodate emergency responders.

Wesley Juhl contributed to this report. Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites.