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A preliminary investigation into last month's three and a half day power outage at the Bellagio has determined that the incident was caused by the premature deterioration, or aging, of one of the main internal power lines.
The investigation has ruled that the decay was not triggered by any outside source, such as condensation or some jolt to the line. While the reason for the failure of the power cable will likely never be discovered, the probable cause for the malfunction is some imperfection, either in the production of the materials or in the installation of the cable, which was undetectable but accelerated the natural erosion of the electrical line.
Despite the havoc produced by the power outage, which shut down the hotel and casino, the emergency systems functioned as designed and the investigation has deemed while a similar event remains a potential threat to any of the city's resorts, the Bellagio blackout was an unusual occurrence similar to a lightning strike and will therefore not result in any overhaul in the city's building codes.
"We don't point fingers at anyone," says Ron Lynn, director of the Building Division in the Clark County Department of Development Service.
"That's not our job. We don't need to know if Joe did something wrong. We need to know if something inherent to the structure was [faulty]. The code can't take into account every contingency but probable and historical ones. For example, we are not prepared for a heavy snow in the valley. If we got 10 feet of snow, one can expect problems."
The power outage began at about 2 a.m. on Easter Sunday, April 11, when a 1247K power cable burned out in the underground vault under manhole No. 9 just off Frank Sinatra...