1998 - Full Show - Aladdin Las Vegas Hotel Implosion - KTNV

with every ending is always the beginning and I'm looking forward to this beginning [Music] I like seeing the intrusion but I didn't like seeing the SAMS go down I remember a lot of great times [Music] it's just sad that the last part of the Las Vegas is going down [Music] [Music] it's the price of progress to do tomorrow at the cost of yesteryear but if you've got to go go on with a bag I send off fitting on Las Vegas this is a news 13 special presentation with Ken Hamilton and Kathy ray and live reports from mark Sayer Alison McCarthy Steve croupy Michael geezer Robin Burke and Mark Martinez in live chopper 13 now News 13 presents the of Latin implosion [Music] right now you are looking at a live picture from one of our exclusive implosion cameras this one mounted on the Aladdin's penthouse balcony it's the hotel where Elvis was married the hotel that Wayne Newton once owned a piece of welcome to this special news 13 broadcast I'm Kathie ray and I'm Ken Hamilton we have live continuous coverage and camera angles you won't see anywhere else a total of 22 cameras on and around the Aladdin Tower during our hour-long program you'll see implosion views from the building itself now this is hallway cam looking through the doors of the penthouse suite on the 17th floor and then our exclusive roof cam will give you a view from outside that hallway looking to the southwest with the Las Vegas Strip in the background our reporters are virtually everywhere tonight from high above to Ground Zero first let's go up to live chopper 13 Marc Martinez we are less than a half hour away from the blast how do things look from up there right now Boyd Cathy you can really tell the crowds are starting to show up and you can actually feel the excitement even up here in live chopper 13 look at all the people that have gathered now on the strip MHP and Metro have closed the strip down now and everyone is jockeying for a good position you could see people running to the front of the line as soon as they closed the strip off literally to try and be the first ones up there against the police tape they have now closed the strip in front of the Aladdin and earlier we were told they would allow people to be on the west side of the strip to watch this but that's not gonna happen they've actually closed this basically from between Flamingo and Tropicana so you're gonna be stuck in those areas if you're trying to get around around here but again you could see with zoom cam tonight thousands of people have shown up to watch this traffic a real mess right now especially on the strip anywhere around Flamingo and Tropicana so keep that in mind the highways are also backing up with people who waited till the last minute to try and get down here for a good view of all this but again you could feel the excitement down there tonight as all these people turn out to watch this is historic event now over the weekend the winds were a problem let's check in with News 13s chief meteorologist Ted texture to see how things are down on ground level tonight mark just as you as you tossed me I feel a little bit of a breeze coming out of the southeast it feels like our wind indicator on the scene is indicating a south to East breeze at about 1 to 2 miles per hour little puffs of wind have been coming on through the prowl cars that the cops on bikes have been clearing the streets we seen the last-minute preparations going on here at ground zero the cameras are all being covered we all have our gear we're ready for the implosion and the dust that will be coming right now I think the dust will probably head over towards the Monte Carlo in fact right now let me take you over to Polo towers where Marc Sarah and Ally McAllister McCarthy are on the 12th floor with a bird's-eye view we are indeed ten and now we have hairspray and tonight every crevice if there is a spot for them to be that is where they are trust us the streets are filled and also the skies are filled Marc Martinez isn't the only one that has a bird's-eye view from up there lots of choppers have been going by over the last few minutes I am just thrilled that this is the first implosion I get to cover in the field I've always been back to the studio my adrenaline is pumping reaction is news 13 of course the only station with a crew actually inside the blast zone News 13s Deep coupie is down there about as close as any human being can safely be steve has a look it looks great Alison we are indeed inside the blast zone hard hat required a filter mask will be going on as well as goggles a little later with 800 pounds of dynamite in the building the danger where we're standing is extreme take a look at what we expect to happen when it goes blasts throughout the building first on the bottom and then through the middle and then there'll be a dramatic pause as the building hangs and then begins to collapse and fall towards the South something like that and believe me when it goes you will feel it in your gut out here we are so close they won't let me stand here next time I talk to you I will have to move over here and take cover behind that building that's just how dangerous it is here in the blast zone let's go now to news 13s Michael geezer who's out on the strip with the public Michael okay Steve thanks they're lined up and ready to go we're at the country star restaurant in the back parking lot and it is absolutely packed take a look for yourselves people have rented chairs they bought food a little beer and this is it the best seat in the house now we have twenty two cameras to bring you the action tonight but one will be showing throughout the evening is roof cam it's a camera low key on top of the building and if the building had eyes this is what it would see this strip right in front of it and we have no idea how long the shot will last but that's part of the fun some of the shots go directly to black some are priceless and we hope to bring you a few priceless shots tonight now if you're coming down to the country star you're being asked to park to the at the Holiday Inn or the Montecarlo which is next door and then walk over and if you do that you will be set and speaking of people who are set let's check in with Robin Burke who is hanging out with the VIPs tonight Robin that's right Mike we are at the VIP tent we are just outside of it I'm gonna tell you what's going on inside there in just a minute but the reason that this is such a special place to view the implosion is because it is the closest unobstructed view possible look how close we are we are just on the other side of the Aladdin theater and just beyond that a clear shot of the building that will be soon imploded now the other reason that this is such a special place you can stay inside the tent you can see through this plastic right here and you don't have to get any dust on your hair or clothing and of course an auction is going on inside and that's the special special reason that the VIP tent is here because it will benefit make-a-wish Foundation and later I will model my survival kit Ken and Kathy back to you safe and sound in the studio all right thanks a lot Robin poison incredible night you as you can see we have a lot of angles to watch this implosion 22 and as soon as the old Aladdin comes down a new one will start going though the Aladdin name however will survive in the form of a 1.3 billion dollar resort much of the Aladdin's original design is captured in plans for the new hotel tower it will be five times bigger than the old hotel featuring a huge shopping mall as well a separate Planet Hollywood Casino is also in the works the new Aladdin is set to open in the year 2000 now back to a live picture from our exclusive balcony cam it is about t-minus and maybe 18 minutes or so and Counting news 13's coverage of the Aladdin implosion continues in just a moment [Music] you are looking at a live picture from our exclusive hallway camp now the building itself is 21 years old the original Aladdin opened 31 years ago and in just a few minutes we expect it to be around 727 or so it will all be Rumble now let's go back out to News 13s Mark Sayer and Alison McCarthy this is my fourth implosion they have been on the air for every single implosion since this trend began what pros you guys are is so excited to do it ourselves actually this is going to be the sixth implosion some people are saying it's only five but don't forget the dunes had two towers the one of course went down in the big ball of fireworks and the other one was a middle of the night at 2:00 a.m. more like just an industrial implosion the public wasn't invited and it was a much lower cube many people forget about that they do all of them were spectacular some more spectacular than others but they all had their very special characteristics it all began when the dunes came tumbling down in October of 93 the dunes became dust with fireworks and fiery explosions that tower literally became a wall of flame as it crashed to the ground eight months later the second dooms tower was demolished and now four years later the Bellagio Hotel is getting ready to open where the dunes once stood the Landmark Hotel would become the next to die sheared in half the futuristic tower collapsed directly onto our camera a parking lot is all that replaced the landmark then this was the view from the top floor of the sands when it came down in November of 96 it will be replaced by the Venetian and the last ago was the Hacienda on New Year's Eve in 1996 Mandalay Bay is the modern mega resort now going up in its place that is the last to go until about 15 minutes from now until the Aladdin Goes Down take a good look this is the last time you are gonna see it standing in the four minutes and today everybody's bragging about their camera angle I think we really have the best boy I mean we've got such a clear unobstructed view of it there and while the lab may just be concrete and steel beams to the engineers who are about to blow it up it is a lifetime of memories for many of the longtime employees damn cool he's like 20-year bartender Terry Jones who has been a bartender there for 20 years let's listen to what he had to say employer too much Evel Knievel came in and autographed this personally because we were good friends it says to my pal Terry are you nuts that's why always Terry Jones still laughs at some of the memories and is touched by others and he was one of my letters from one of my customers and fortunately at the time her dad had just passed and were real good friends and they sent me a letter and just to tell me about it his employee of the month plaque is still shiny and so is the smile in his official ID photo but the Las Vegas native is also nostalgic yeah yeah I'm real sad because it was one of the last of the Vegas original hotels and his beautiful location it was a nice hotel $3 baby Terry managed to smile to the very end I don't know why we caught up with him his last day on the job it's gonna hurt because you know this is like you know my home you know and and I love the place it hurts because you get to a point that it's not only a place where you work it's like party life and I would go there sick I would go there if I stayed up all night or something went to a party but I still go to work because it was a part of my life one devoted employee there and you saw he's a Latin badge he says he takes that around as he's looking for full-time work at other casinos at this point to let him know that he was let go because the hotel was being blown up exactly you can certainly understand in the Nostalgia we're going to be back with you in a little bit but let's take a 14 floors below - Robin Burke who is standing by live at the VIP tent Robin well Allie and Mark there are still a few 11 employees working right down to implosion day inside there in the VIP tent and it's only appropriate that even in the end there's a place for the VIPs back in the 70s the opening of the tower was strictly a star-studded event the Aladdin lamp the signature of the new tower expansion was like the grand opening all over again with Hollywood stars like the glamorous ginger Tina Louise from Gilligan's Island Christopher and Lynda day George and hutch David sole character actors from almost every popular TV series at the time made the invitation-only event and everything from the entertainment to the seating arrangements went along with the theme the tower at the time was one of the tallest buildings on the strip today the symbol of the 70s strip expansion is in the Neon Museum safe from demolition and soon just a reminder of another Aladdin in another time now he just heard the 10-minute siren we are about nine minutes away to blast off now the Aladdin will be remembered for a lot of special people a lot of special events one in particular historical event happened here May 1st 1967 and to tell us all about it is Michael geezer a day that was fit for a king Michael now you're absolutely right Robin May 1st 1967 the day elvis and Priscilla Presley tied the knot and they did it right here at the Aladdin now the room where the couple got hitched will be reduced to rubble in just a matter of minutes but the history like the king himself lives on room 246 a place edged into the history books thanks to Elvis Presley the king and his Queen Priscilla were married at the Aladdin almost 31 years ago to the day a copy of their marriage certificate still hangs on the wall the Presley's held their reception downstairs and what later became a cafeteria for years room 246 remained off-limits to guests until the Rosencrantz from Michigan pleaded with the hotel to let them in 245 and the hotel did in September of 1996 the Michigan couple exchanged vows in front of the same curtains and under the same chandelier as the Presley's oh it's awesome just I get goosebumps being in this room and just to be the first one to be staying in the same place as elvis and Priscilla is just original pictures of the wedding we're still on the walls we met we met a couple of these guys and talked with them that's something that we go way into the cell vasila so where we're not just making this up I'm all shook up since 1967 the room was known as the Elvis suite it's been cleared out now and will soon become a memory [Music] and it's a good thing Elvis has left the building because in just moments the Aladdin is about to be leveled let's go back to the studio and canden kaki already we'll check back with you in a little bit Michael thank you well the Aladdin 7000 seat ampitheatre will be spared from tonight's blast and so too will thousands of souvenirs and the weeks leading up to the implosion just about everything inside the hotel was up for sale from chandeliers to blackjack tables pieces of the Aladdin history are now scattered all over the world news 13's implosion coverage continues in just a moment our special cameras are fired up and the countdown clock is ticking stay with us [Music] [Music] and you're looking at a live picture of the Aladdin Hotel and Casino from balcony cam the building will become Las Vegas history within a matter of minutes welcome back to this news 13 special presentation the Aladdin implosion the structure is towered over the valley now for more than 21 years it will take only seconds to come down we have about four minutes to go mark Martinez let's go back up and live chopper 13 with a look at all the cameras mark well that's right Cathy we've been telling you about these cameras all night long news 13 is the only place where you'll be able to watch this from the inside as well as the outside that camera you're looking at now is what we call roof cam it is mounted literally on the very top of the building but it's only one of the cameras we have throughout the rest of the building let's take you now live that is roof cam live that you're looking at now you'll be able to see the strip in the background as this building falls to the earth for the final time now let's take you to a live picture from the 17th floor of the hotel where we have balcony cam which you saw just a few moments ago this is located outside penthouse 2901 on the hotel's tower it's facing south and should give us a real feeling of what it would be like to be up there for the big send-off now we want to go to hallway cam this is also on the penthouse floor of the Aladdin looking south 17 stories up in the air we're not exactly sure how long that camera will last up there with all the debris falling around it but it will give you an excellent perspective from the inside we also of course don't want to forget about zoom cam this is the most powerful TV camera in the state of Nevada so when we say we have this covered we mean it now let's go down to Steve croupy who's near the blast zone Steve mark we are so far into the blast zone that they have they have now made us take cover in a low-rise building that's our camera shot that you saw earlier we left the camera by itself we hope it survives the explosive force the dynamite loaded into several floors of the building there the implosion engineers are now talking to each other making sure that everything is clear they're checking their equipment also a lot of security personnel are around here a lot of metro bike officers circling around the property to make sure that no tourist has wandered onto the property they have checked the building to make sure that everything is safe and there you see it you can see that black stripe across the top dynamite is loaded into that area as well as where the black stripe is down at the bottom the base of it is just packed with hundreds of pounds of TNT and the way they've described some of the previous implosion is that they're going to bring this thing down the way somebody would bring down a giant tree a tree cutter would hack at the base of a tree to make sure it falls in one direction so that it doesn't hurt anybody who might be standing around the tree or in this case around the base of the Aladin it will fall away from this shot you're looking at right here it will fall it will splash literally onto that tennis court area where the swimming pool and Sports Complex of the Aladdin hotel used to be in operation the building will fall towards this shot towards the south there you see one of the security vehicles making sure that no one goes beyond that line where I'm standing right now is on the direct opposite side of the hotel down at the very base and here is the view from the strip as hundreds of people look across the marquee touting what will become the new Aladdin a 1.3 billion dollar mega resort we are now just waiting for the 1-minute mark we'll know that very shortly when a one-minute volley of fireworks is launched you'll hear several sharp bangs there will be no large firework display until after the blast occurs as soon as we hear as soon as we hear those fireworks we know we are just one minute away we're listening in now so far it sounds like everything looks good our cameras on the building are ready to go the equipment that will detonate the dynamite is being warmed up okay CDI we're giving the here we go we're one minute away we'll hear some fireworks being launched very shortly now they won't produce much of a burst in the air they are simply a loud bang to alert everyone but the implosion is one minute away there's the view from roof cam apparently one of the implosion engineers noticed some people wandering in an area where they are not supposed to be that accounts for the slight pause before those one-minute fireworks are launched apparently as you heard that the implosion engineers say we are not quite yet clear everything looks fairly good but apparently a couple of people are wandering where they are not supposed to be you see all those areas where the building has been cleared out around the base of it no one is allowed in there okay apparently that's the situation we are holding until some people are out perhaps we can check in with a Marc Martinez high above the scene to find out Marc Martinez do you see anyone up there who shouldn't be in the area well steam it's a bit hard to tell with all that debris obviously around the base of the Aladin this is all of the stuff that they took out and threw out of the windows so it's hard to tell and you can imagine why they would want to make sure everyone was out of this area it is a bit difficult but one thing we can tell you that might help them find anyone if they are in the blast zone metros police helicopter is equipped with an infrared device that can sense heat and they are down there now flying around at a very low level looking for the exact this of exactly this type of situation to make sure this did not happen of course this is what everyone is afraid of and that is why they take these security precautions you could see on your screen now security people around the hotel so metros police helicopter is down there indeed looking for anyone if they are in that area and hopefully they will be able to get those people out of there very soon so we can resume this countdown all right thank you very much Marc so everyone is waiting we're getting more reports now on the situation as we await they're talking to people who are stationed on literally every corner of this property different people who have different responsibilities making sure that everything at their station looks safe metro police officers as well keeping a view on the situation and there it is the hotel tower it stands 17 stories tall and it is all it is 21 years old almost 22 years old and they've given the okay now for the one-minute salute the volley of fireworks which we should hear just in just a second there we go [Music] three salutes that means we're one minute away there's almost no turning back now and when we get down close to zero you'll hear a countdown a 10-second countdown they'll give us additional warnings the blasting machine is connected to about 800 pounds of explosives loaded throughout the building that hallway will crumble the balcony will crumble those pillars we have no idea really how well our cameras will last in this here we go here we go and the blasts and there you heard it the blast engineer saying no problem with the implosion and so with the destructive force of 800 pounds of dynamite the Aladdin has been extinguished three decades of history are now only dust and memories and the huge dust cloud billowing forth Marc Martinez and live chopper 13 how does it look from up there Steve it looks amazing from up here as we come to our shot with zoom cam you could see it looks really like forest fire almost as you could see that dust cloud beginning to move it looks like it is moving towards the south and I am told now that we we still have some of the cameras that wrote the building down and of course we will be bringing you those pictures just as soon as we can but again look at that dust cloud that tremendous amount of dust as the Aladin came to rest on the desert floor down there it's quite amazing and there's another picture Steve so quite an amazing sight I wonder how the people down there are faring with all that dust of course it isn't making its way up to us here in live chopper 13 yet stiva how's it looking down there from your angle mark I am I am totally totally enveloped in dust right now and here go the fireworks to celebrate the end of the Aladdin News 13s Ted texter has been monitoring how the winds are blowing out here and how that might affect where all this dust is going Ted we have a very weak very with very light wind and the dust clouds appear to be spreading out very evenly look at the top of the plume and you can see what the winds are doing they're really not very much it looks like it may begin to move over towards the Monte Carlo or the Holliday and looking from live chopper I can see again the plume is continuing to spread up very evenly and of course the fireworks are adding to all of the spectacular sight down here Steve croupy Thank You Ted if my voice sounds a little muffled that's because I have enveloped in a huge cloud of dust I have a filter mask on right now and it's very hard to breathe where I am standing right now Steve of course that particulate matter it's very very fine dust and it's not good for the lungs and that's what everybody around the area has been provided with filter mesh breathe relaxes don't breathe any more than you have to Steve you're there I am Ted these fireworks should last for another couple of minutes as the Aladdin arises anew in a couple of years when they build a 1.3 billion dollar mega resort so they're celebrating the disappearance of the old and the building of the new all over Las Vegas and Steve vais I'd estimate that the the plume now is spreading out in fact you can see in the middle it's sinking and that indicates that we've got a real stable atmosphere overs it's spreading out Steve back to you all right Ted let's just sit back and enjoy and perhaps as we do so we'll see some replays of the implosion that we all just experienced out here this was the view from our exclusive balcony cam as the charges went off a shudder went through the building we could feel it I could feel the charges in my gut the force of the explosion there you you see the camera rocking OH and there it went I guess before we lost our camera picture balcony cam from the 17th floor head house and there's the Bellagio the hotel that's going up in the place of the dunes we had two towers imploded at the dunes in 1993 dunes one dunes two Bellagio opens October 15th and that's the view from the Polo Towers and here's our exclusive roof cam as the building literally fell out from underneath our camera and there it goes [Music] there it's quite unbelievable if the building is completely destroyed obviously and normally when that implosion happens we can please see it we can see this entire building is just destroyed there's just great debris really left down there the fireworks display of course still going on not much other than that a lot of people just still enjoying the view down there looking at the fireworks that are going on it is quite amazing now we want to go to our hallway cam you're looking at that now let's see what this camera view looks like you're looking right down the hall suite on the 17th floor of the Aladdin roof 2901 at the time of the implosion again just one of many cameras we had on board for the implosion we saw that roof cam made it out okay and so did balcony camp and as we see with hallway cam hopefully we'll have something to fall back but again an amazing sight and you can see the fireworks display still going on up here stable that cloud of smoke seems to be dispersing quite a bit as you can see with zoo camp and I'm sure blanketed quite a few people down there with dust but it is making its way out west right now at this point and it seems to be lifting from the ground just a bit [Applause] [Music] [Music] that is the view from ground zero as the charges went off and then down comes the Aladdin other than the cameras on the building that view was just about as close as any camera was permitted to get and this is the huge dust cloud which still exists the fireworks were obscured to quite a degree and I am standing still in part of this cloud to back behind that little low-rise building you see on the right side of this and that's the view from live chopper 13 Wow I have one of the implosion engineers here standing next to me he says that view was just awesome he can't wait until the rest of his team sees the shot from zoom cam News 13s Robin Burke had an incredible view from the VIP viewing area Robin how did it look from your vantage point Steve we did have an absolutely incredible view totally unobstructed but the dust didn't come our way we are thankful to say although we were prepared in our ponchos right now I have a couple of friends with me who witnessed it and they are going to explain what it was like what did you think I thought it was really great cuz they had a big finish at the end and they had fireworks before and after it wasn't wasn't obviously never seen anything like this before I have you lived nope did you like it yep want to see another one yep you might have to wait a while I do believe everyone here was prepared but the dust just didn't come our way it was fantastic wait a minute I have one more little friend how was it good good want to see it again yeah okay well you'll have to watch the reruns on channel 13 okay back to you soon [Music] let's come back upstairs now if we can to live chopper 13 and show you the view from again with zoom cam Steve was telling us the shot was awesome and indeed it was in fact it was in a very unusual angle that zoom cam had on this whole event but you can see nothing left of the building it's gone tonight and the new Aladdin will arise again in this very same spot with the same name we understand Steve croupy is back down still on the ground Steve we are checking out the scene from high above it looks like they still have the strip closed off and probably will for quite a while well mark one of the benefits from where you are is you are above all this dust I am a mess our camera is a mess and it seems to have floated towards the north end of the building and we are still envelop in a very fine mist what is left with of the Aladdin is literally hanging in the air right now I close covered in Aladdin dust so there you have it there you have it the Aladdin its final moments it was quite dramatic indeed still still fireworks her excuse me helicopters buzzing around over top the view from our various cameras this was the view from the country star down on the strip level the view that was had from that place was enjoyed by News 13s Michael geezer Michael how did you enjoy it well that wasn't too bad Steve and the spectators who gathered out here I think echo the same sentiments and as far as the dust that came from the building it we are located at the southwest corner of the building and almost as if the dust had directions it went right down harmon over i-15 and never came into the parking lot so very few people even put the masks over their face now some of the spectators have stayed around and sean joins us now Sean what did you think of this implosion I think it was a lot faster than I thought it'd be but it was pretty cool yeah and you said you've seen an implosion before but not in person yeah I saw the haciendas on TV pleasure so is this a spectator sport that you have to be there in person for I think it's a spectator sport yeah yeah and in Las Vegas it certainly has become a sport with buildings falling down almost every year let's go back to Steve Krupa all right thank you Michael again we're still waiting for this cloud to dissipate quite an incredible scene out here it's the kind of thing that we've gone through on all the previous employees we know the dust cloud comes and it literally takes days for them to clean up all the rubble that is created by the implosion some of the concrete from the hotel will simply be trucked off to a landfill parts of it will actually be recycled to become part of new projects that are going up in Las Vegas but it is a tedious process that literally begins as soon as everyone clears out from here as the cleanup crews come in to take it all away News 13s Marc Sayer and Alison McCarthy had another incredible view Marc and alia what was it like poetic this is the first time you've witnessed an implosion in it really is different you know I've seen five on camera back in the studio but to be here and to hear it it is so loud and I'm sure the demolition crews have their own way of describing it it would look pretty flawless from up here but it was graceful absolutely graceful let's give you another view as it happened this is what we call collapse cam here just one of our 22 different cameras that captured the implosion as it occurred this camera actually mounted on the outside of the building to ride the building down what happens when the picture freezes like that that means that the cable that connected our camera down to the broadcast facilities was cut at that point perhaps the blast down below want to point out one more very interesting thing the sign of the Aladin tonight says out of the dust a web arises a new Cu in 2000 and quite literally from this position a whole bunch of hotels that we could never see such as the Mirage all of a sudden appeared utterly in about 15 seconds it's almost like a whole new city came up just out of the Noah let's show you one more view this is the view that we had from the balcony this is what we witnessed the whole thing took about 15 seconds tops from the time we heard the massive thunderous Rumble of the initial charges to the time that they collapsed and can see the the dust there being ricocheted off the tennis courts what a tribute to the demolition crew because to be able to explode a building of that magnitude and do it so controlled like that and we just like to say we're feeling very fortunate but none of that doesn't Steve so I counted Kathy that's the situation from the poet hour is a very impressive view we had back to you a lot of impressive views that was just amazing wasn't it sitting here applauding in the studio well all of those memories just gone in seconds she memories yes but they do live on in the people's hearts and in their minds the implosion went off finally without a hitch we want to give you another look at that the building's sort of caved in and then gave way to the pressure and it collapsed more replays when we come back for this special edition of news 13 the Aladdin implosion [Music] [Music] and you are looking right now at alive shot from live chopper 13 and zoom cam that is all that is left right now of the Aladdin at approximately 727 this evening the Aladdin Hotel and Casino as we knew it is no longer standing on the east side of the strip all 17 stories came down in just a matter of seconds and a lot of people had gathered down on the strip and all around tonight to see the implosion and News 13s Michael Geezer was in the middle of them all Michael how was it well Ken as you know this has become a major spectator sport in Las Vegas watching implosions in tonight was no different we are at the country star restaurant in the back parking lot where quite a few people gathered to watch this event and one of them is right here with his own video camera sir what's your name Bob laughter Bob how did it look through your video camera I was lucky that I got it because I thought the fireworks going to be first and I heard the booms going off where they were doing each floor and then I clicked it on and I got it yeah show us a little bit of this why don't you describe it while you play it back it was pretty smooth you ready yeah I heard the booms as they went up every floor and centered it and then it came down [Music] riah surprised at how well this came out on your videotape yeah actually because I've been to just about every one of them out here I didn't I missed the haciendas one but I've been to most of them and I usually screw it up but this one came out pretty good good work Bob appreciate the time there you go people out here getting their own videotape to save for memories and that is what the Aladdin is at this moment a memory marked Allison back to you so I guess ultimately we can say we had twenty three cameras twenty-two what a view it was from the 14th floor here the Polo Towers and if you look between mark and myself here we talk about how every time we bring a building down the entire sky scape of the strip changes and it will never be the same again yes they will build again but this is the view from live chopper as that building goes down again one of the best angles I think that we brought you was live chopper let's take a listen to what the crowd was saying at the time that building went down [Applause] when you look at some of the shots that we got you do see all the camera flashes literally thousands of people taking pictures off the exact same moment it's like you're at a concert or something to see those rapid fires all in those eight seconds let's take a look now at balcony cam we've got so many different angles to bring to you this one right there I believe it was on the 17th floor as you can see that camera it hung with this for a little while there you can see the pillars give way and then the camera shot just freezes as we lost our connection you also get a sense as to just how violent this is the folks at CDI controlled demolition who did this it is truly tremendous their art but it is a violent process inside it is an arc you put it that way let's go back down to Steve cookie now who's in the blast zone Steve you're recovering from all that dust the dust is still out here I've still got my mask on I'm almost choking because of all the dust in my lungs right now and even though the hotel is dust a lot of souvenirs survived including this it's a covered with a lot of dust right now but it says room 2901 and that is the suite up at the top of the hotel where we had one of our cameras and this was the view inside room 2901 the penthouse suite on the 17th floor as the hotel experienced its final checkout the collapse began on the western end of the building and moved towards the east we saw it fall there and that's it the final night of the Aladdin News 13s Robin Burke is still in the VIP tent Robin take it away just outside the VIP tent and you I want to ask you a quick question you were inside you didn't get dusty whatsoever what did you think oh it was fantastic just to watch the thing just go down like a ballet I just float it down it was wonderful yes you can reveal it could you could you feel it inside we couldn't feel an air rush or anything about the booze yes and the noise I'm from California that's an earthquake country so I thought my goodness is is like a gigantic one but it was wonderful thank you very much like an earthquake and I heard another young man out here say it was something like out of a science-fiction movie let me show you the rubble if we can just pan over here real quick the rubble from the backside of the Aladdin it's still a good three stories tall wouldn't want to have to clean up that mess so as it comes tumbling down it's not actually leveled it will still be some time before they're able to do that back to you at the studio a lot of cleanup we understand as many as 70 trucks a day and this could go as long as three weeks four weeks right it's cleaned up and of course not all implosions go as smoothly as the one tonight where the haciendas came down you may remember on New Year's Eve in 1996 part of the hotel survived that blast certainly did when the dust cleared the mishap was pretty obvious and it wasn't until the next day that the tail end of the tower was demolished about 10% of the hotel had to be toppled by a wrecking ball the Hacienda was apparently a very sturdy structure don't go away news 13's coverage of tonight's implosion continues with more incredible pictures in just a moment [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is a live street-level shot of what was left right now of the Aladdin after 32 years of towering over the strip within seconds the Aladdin Tower was ripped to shreds now all that's left is a lot of concrete metal and dust and the crews are going to be sorting through that debris looking for recyclables and as many as 70 trucks a day will haul away the remnants to the landfill right now News 13s Steve croupy is still on the ground in the middle of hopefully where it's clearing up a little bit Steve cannon Kathy you mentioned all that dust there's still a lot of it in the air and a lot of it all over all of us out here they offered us ponchos we refused though just for demonstration purposes take a look at what is left though this is the pile of rubble the haze of the Aladdin sits over it and we saw some trucks pulling in already people who are going to begin the cleanup procedure are already rolling in and they've got a lot of work ahead of them tonight and over the next couple of days News 13s Marc Martinez is high above in a dust free environment Marc take it away that's right Steve speaking of cleanup the street sweepers have just moved onto the strip at about Harmon they're heading northbound they have to get the strip all cleaned up before they can reopen it to anyone we understand they also we're making sure that there were no gas lines severed or anything like that during the implosion and so now they are going to make sure that it is all clean now we have a new view I am told to show you of this implosion when we have not seen before this is of course a looking at the strip at from the Luxor an amazing view and note you know Steve people have described this building as floating down and really that's what it looked like it sort of gently came down to rest and then disappeared in that big dust cloud and it's that exact dust cloud that is causing so many problems tonight for the cleanup crews of course they're pretty much used to this they've done this before and they will do it again no doubt but for right now the strip is still closed down between Harmon and parrot or I should say flamingo and it's gonna be kind of difficult getting out of here for the people who came out to see this but still I think they got their money's worth a spectacular view tonight Steve all right thank you very much mark Martinez in live chopper 13 I think he wins the award for the best shot of the night no question about it zoom cam was awesome a big thanks also to the folks at master video consultants they provided the cameras on the building and the guys at next link they provided the fiber optics that allowed us to transmit our photos here's another angle centered up on the upper half of the building a slow-motion shot of it coming down you can see the west end of it dipped in first and then it kind of rippled towards the east that's it from the blast zone let's go back into the studio and Ken and Kathy so he can clean up and maybe take a shower I bet he's ready for one boy that is an incredible sight tonight amazing and we are out of time we want to thank you for taking time to watch the special edition of News 13 the Aladdin hotel is history and news 13 we'll be sure to keep you updated on all the new developments with the new property there we're going to leave you tonight with highlights from tonight's event [Music] that one you're standing at right be here tomorrow [Music] a piece of ow [Music] Wow [Music]

Channel: AccessVegas.com

Views: 28,943

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Id: RDz8gZBMJ5Q

Length: 49min 53sec (2993 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 08 2020