Inspector fails to report Paris problems
An inspector for the Clark County Fire Department recently found several fire safety deficiencies at the Paris Las Vegas, but did not document them in a report, as she should have. A county spokesman said the report will be written when fire inspectors return to the Strip hotel to follow up on the first inspector's findings.
The fire department went to the Paris on Sept. 9 to investigate the same complaint that had led the building division to find more than 20 code violations at the property, which is owned by Harrah's Las Vegas. Paul Sepe, an electrician laid off by the Paris in February, filed the complaint.
"Our inspector did not do an Inspection Record for this inspection but should have," Dan Kulin, a Clark County spokesman, wrote by e-mail on Friday. "It is a personnel matter and so we will not discuss" the inspector's handling of the Paris.
Kulin shared a Sept. 30 letter to the county summarizing the Sept. 9 visit of inspector Lawrie Lee, which was written by Eric Friend, a Paris representative. The letter was not created until after Sept. 25, when the Las Vegas Review-Journal interviewed county spokesman Stacey Welling about the Paris and requested fire department records.
Friend, who is the life safety manager for three local Harrah's Entertainment Properties -- Bally's, Paris and the Rio -- wrote that of the seven Paris locations reviewed by Lee, five of them had no "fire and life-safety" discrepancies.
The two that did are the hotel's liquor warehouse and a self-closing door in a lower level.
According to Friend's letter, the warehouse lacks strobes and audible alarms to alert occupants to the onset of fire or smoke, but the space conforms with approved drawings.
Workers do not spend much time in the warehouse. "The storage area is locked for the majority of a 24-hour period and has extensive camera surveillance," Friend wrote.
The second discrepancy, according to Friend's letter, is a self-closing door to which a magnetic lock had been added. The letter indicated that the Paris either has to restore the door to its original latching condition or submit a plan and obtain a permit for the change.
Contact reporter Joan Whitely at jwhitely@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0268.
