(AP) Fire officials in Joliet said an early estimate of fire damages to the Empress Casino is USD 340 million. The March 20 fire sparked by a construction worker spread quickly and burned for 12 hours but was contained to a pavilion area. The main part of the casino in Joliet wasn't heavily damaged. Fire Chief Joe Formhals called the estimate rough, but said it's required as part of official reports.

Las Vegas (AP) -- Guests evacuated three floors of the Bellagio casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip after a Tuesday morning mattress fire left one man burned and others complaining of smoke inhalation, hotel and fire officials said. The 5:50 a.m. fire was contained to one guest room as hotel sprinklers doused the flames, but smoke and water damaged the 26th floor of the MGM Mirage Inc. property, Clark County Fire Chief Steve Smith said.

Fire has damaged a building on the grounds of Hobart's Wrest Point Casino. The technology services building for the Federal Group, which owns Wrest Point, caught fire early this evening. South-bound traffic on Sandy Bay Road was disrupted while the blaze was extinguished. Federal spokesman Brendan Blomely says all staff were safely evacuated and it has had no impact on the casino's operations.

St. Louis -- About 1,000 people were evacuated from Harrah's St. Louis Casino and Hotel this morning after a fire started inside an exterior wall. Pattonville Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Murray said that the casino called around 9 a.m. saying smoke was filling a stairwell. The fire broke through the building's outer wall and was quickly extinguished by a crew waiting outside, Murray said.

Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) yesterday issued a statement announcing the redundancies of 270 of its casino staff, yet promised that they would be guaranteed employment should their position become vacant when the company's mega resort opens in 2009. The cut-backs affected both locals and expatriates at Grand Waldo and President Casinos. Positions that were made redundant included pit managers and supervisors, dealers and their inspectors as well as security guards.

More than 500 people were evacuated from Adelaide's SkyCity casino after a small fire ignited in a wall space last night. A transformer, situated between the central marble hall and a toilet, overheated and sparked the fire just before 7pm. A smoke detector activated a sprinkler in the toilet and alerted the Metropolitan Fire Service to the blaze. Within minutes SkyCity staff evacuated the building and MFS firefighters located the fire and doused the flames after breaking into the wall cavity.

Firefighters from two cities and Clark County are fighting a three-alarm fire that forced the Speedway Casino/Ramada Inn at Interstate 15 and Cheyenne Avenue to evacuate its casino and hotel rooms. North Las Vegas firefighters responded to a call of smoke at the hotel and casino about 3:30 p.m. As smoke poured from the roof a second alarm was called, said Scott Allison, spokesman for the Clark County Fire Department.

The Henderson Fire Department is today investigating the cause of a Tuesday night fire that gutted the boarded-up Alystra Casino along Boulder Highway at Sunset Road. No one was injured in fighting the fire, but the casino, which has been closed for 10 years, was a total loss, according to Battalion Chief Randall Jones of the Henderson Fire Department. Firefighters were called about the fire at 6:48 p.m. and the first Henderson firefighters arrived within five minutes...

Two three-ring binders in the office of Monte Carlo President Anton Nikodemus are his most telling reminder of the rooftop fire two months ago that shut down the Strip casino for three weeks and continues to sideline roughly 16 percent of the hotel's 3,000-room inventory. Every now and then, Nikodemus will glance at the binders, which contain letters from Monte Carlo hotel guests, casino customers, and convention and meeting planners.

Casino operator MGM Mirage estimates the repair costs and lost business due to the fire at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino will be close to USD 100 million. Company spokesman Alan Feldman says the company has insurance, but it’s not immediately clear how much of the claim will be paid for. The burned exterior facade along the roof of the building has been removed, and officials plan to reopen the casino and at least 1,200 of the hotel’s 3,000-plus rooms about sometime Friday.

Investigators are finalizing the official report on the Monte Carlo fire, but named Union Erectors as having started the fire. On Friday, the company released a statement. Fire investigators say an employee of Union Erectors was cutting a piece of steel on top of the Monte Carlo without the proper permit or equipment. The Clark County Fire Chief says he should have had a matt to catch flying molten steel from his hand torch.

Last Saturday, while inspectors checked the MGM Mirage’s 32-story building for damage following the blaze that blackened the facade of the top floors, Ron Lynn, chief of the Clark County Building Department, said he did not know when he would permit the 3,000-room hotel to reopen. "It’s a little soon to tell," Lynn told The Associated Press moments before he and a team of six inspectors entered the building Saturday morning. "We haven’t completed the testing today. But there is no damage to the casino area."