1. Hilton Fire:
1981
Team Body Snatchers
Steve, Vernon, Serena, Thomas, Blake

2. February
10th, 1981
Just 90 days after
the MGM Grand Fire
Just 90 days after
the MGM Grand Fire
Around 8pm, a fire broke out at
the Hilton Hotel, in what
appeared to be an arson case.
Las Vegas Hilton Fire

3. Las Vegas Hilton
Fire
Arson case, involving hotel
room service busboy Phillip
Klein
8 deaths, 7 from smoke
inhalation, and 1 jumper, as
well as hundreds of injuries
$16.5 million in damages
Lawsuit originally for $22.8
million.

4. What Happened?
Phillip Cline allegedly caught the drapes on
fire while smoking marijuana with his friend
Authorities believed this to be false, as they
tried to recreate the situation, and were unable
to see how this could have been the cause of
the blaze
Also, it was discovered that there were 4 points
of origin of the fire, spread across 4 different
floors

5. The Culprit: Phillip Cline
It was later discovered that Phillip Cline had an extensive rap sheet
The Las Vegas Review Journal revealed that in the past, Klein had
been convicted of stealing both money and cars, and were quoted as
saying “One way or another he was headed to prison anyways.”
He was also caught in possession of stolen property and burglary tools
Also convicted of embezzlement, and admitted to having stolen $100
from El Cortez just a week before the fire
Later admitted that the marijuana he was smoking that allegedly set
the fire was laced with cocaine, and dipped in PCP

6. The Culprit: Phillip Cline
Cline was eventually convicted on 8 counts of
murder, and was sentenced to 8 consecutive
life sentences, and 15 years for first degree
arson.

7. What could have been done?
The Hilton was ironically in the process of updating their fire security
to prevent such a disaster
All of the smoke detectors were offline at the time of the fire
This catastrophe could have been prevented if the Hilton had either
temporarily shut down the hotel, or closed individual floors and
updated the system floor by floor

8. What could have been done?
Easy case of negligent hiring/retention
Cline’s rap sheet was substantial even before
he started working at the Hilton. A simple
background check could have spotted his
criminal record
Cline also was convicted of crimes all the way
up to a week before the fire. Negligent
retention

9. THANK YOU

10. THANK YOU