Breaking: Major Fire At Las Vegas Casinos

A fire at the Monte Carlo casino has sparked evacuations of that casino and neighboring casinos - The Bellagio and New York New York. The 3-alarm fire is on the top floors of the casino's hotel tower and smoke can be seen billowing out of several areas.

No reports of injuries at the moment.

UPDATE:
Live video feed of the fire. Firefighters are going to have one heck of a time fighting the fire because of the location. There are firefighters trying to put water on the exterior portions of the fire.

UPDATE:
Via Fox:

People have been reportedly evacuated from the Monte Carlo, as well as the Bellagio and New York-New York casinos.

Las Vegas fire spokesman Tim Szymanski says city and county firefighters were on the scene. The fire was reported just before 11 a.m.

The Monte Carlo is owned by MGM Mirage, who has yet to issue a statement on the fire. Still too early to figure out what caused the fire, but given how the fire spread along the roof line, it is likely the fire was fed by equipment or flammable roofing materials.

UPDATE:
The fire is continuing to cause traffic delays throughout the area, including I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard. Still no reports of injuries, and the building is being evacuated.

He didn't know how many people were staying at the hotel today. The Monte Carlo has 3,002 guest rooms and 3,015 employees, and the casino has more than 102,100 square feet of gaming space, according to its Web site. Guests and staff were being evacuated.

Tim Szymanski, a spokesman for the Las Vegas fire department, didn't immediately return voice-mail messages seeking comment.

The Monte Carlo, which sits on the Las Vegas Strip adjacent to MGM's $7.8 billion CityCenter project, opened in 1996. It was built by Mandalay Resort Group, which MGM bought in 2005.

The Monte Carlo won $160 million from gamblers in 2006, according to Jefferies & Co. estimates, the seventh-highest amount among Las Vegas Strip casinos.

The top floor features personalized concierge service for guests who stay in one of 45 deluxe rooms, seven suites or eight one- or two-bedroom penthouses, according to the hotel's Web site.

UPDATE:
Well, this might explain the cause of the fire. A group of welders were working on the roof at about the time the fire started. It is possible that an errant spark caused the fire but no definitive cause is known at this time. No word on the whereabouts of the welders.

UPDATE:
Earlier reports claiming that the Bellagio and New York New York were evacuated were wrong.

Investigators were trying to determine whether the fire had simply burned the resort's facade or penetrated rooms in the upper floors, which contain suites. Guests were being taken the MGM Grand Garden Arena and employees were evacuated to the adjacent New York-New York hotel, Absher said.

Huge crowds formed to watch the fire, and traffic on the Las Vegas Strip was gridlocked as streets were blocked off around the hotel.

The nearby resorts, Bellagio and New York New York were not evacuated.