The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas is ditching its fake outdoor foliage after suffering significant damage from a summertime outdoor pool fire, which was fueled by several artificial palm trees.
Controlled burns show the fake palm trees are more flammable than previously thought, and dozens of them at the Cosmopolitan’s outdoor rooftop pool caught fire on July 25, causing more than $2 million in damages.
One patron was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and parts of the casino evacuated when the pool area caught fire from an unknown cause. Poolside patrons said the artificial palm trees and other fake foliage caught fire quickly and spread it rapidly on the hot summer day, but firefighters put it out within a half hour.
Laboratory tests on the same plastic used to manufacture the fake palm trees and palm fronds showed an immediate surge in heat and smoke when introduced to fire.
The artificial palm fronds were reduced to ash within about three minutes and gave off heat about 10 times faster than southern pine, the researchers reported. The fiberglass resin and polyurethane foam used within the trunks of the artificial palms gave off heat about five times faster than southern pine.
The fire and research results have spurred Cosmopolitan officials to begin removing all artificial foliage outdoors, where fire sprinklers and other fire-suppression systems are less common and less effective than indoors.
Casino officials said they already removed about half of the artificial outdoor foliage and will have it all gone by early 2016.
