Today is Thursday, February 10th, 2022.

On this day in 1981, a fire broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel.

In less than 20 minutes, one tiny spark turned the entire building into a deadly inferno.

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Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast.

Due to the graphic nature of this case, listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes discussions of arson and death.

We advise extreme caution for children under 13.

Today we're covering the tragic story of the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel Fire. The Blaze killed eight people and injured more than 200 others. Now let's go back to Las Vegas, Nevada on February 10th, 1981.

The Hilton hummed with excitement. At the time, it was the largest hotel in the world. That

night in the downstairs theater, singer Andy Williams performed to a packed house. Elsewhere in the hotel and casino, the newly hired

busboy, 23-year-old Philip Klein, was likely collecting plenty of service trays and half-eaten

hamburgers. By the time his break came, Klein was exhausted. He made his way to the eighth-floor

lobby and sank into a couch near one of the

elevators. Then he pulled out a cannabis cigarette laced with cocaine and PCP. Despite his young

age, Klein already had a rather hefty criminal record, filled with stolen cars and embezzlement.

In fact, he'd moved from the San Francisco

Bay Area to Las Vegas, perhaps in hopes of starting fresh, but that would prove to be difficult.

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