RENO " At least one person was killed and several seriously injured but at least another dozen more rescued in a late-night fire at an old, three-story hotel in Reno's downtown casino district, a fire spokesman said early Wednesday.
"Right now, we have one confirmed fatality on site," Reno Fire Department spokesman Steve Frady said. "We have an estimated 31 injuries."
The four-alarm fire at the Mizpah Hotel a block east of Harrah's hotel-casino broke out about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Frady said.
About 40 firefighters were on the scene with at least six fire engines and four ladder trucks just before midnight, he said.
Police estimated between 60 and 80 people were living in the old, brick hotel, and several escaped from second-floor windows, Frady said.
"Firefighters went into rescue mode upon arrival. Reno police said several were hanging out of windows yelling for help," he said.
Rescue units set up a triage center near the building where the injured " mostly suffering from smoke inhalation " were being treated. As many as a dozen had been transported to local hospitals, Frady said.
The fire was believed to be confined to the Mizpah, two blocks off the main casino drag just north of the Truckee River, and posed no immediate threat to Harrah's high-rise or neighboring businesses, he said.
Local television reporters said in live reports that the flames " estimated initially to be more than 25-feet high " were subsiding early Wednesday.
"I can tell you, there was a whole lot of water being put into this building right off the bat," Frady said.
The hotel dates to the 1920s and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
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