Harrah’s works out details to make fire evacuees ‘whole’

More than 200 people who were evacuated this afternoon when fire broke out in the bingo hall at the Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino and Resort can expect to hear soon where and how to retrieve their belongings and gaming refunds, a Harrah’s spokeswoman said.

Holly O’Brien of Harrah’s said customers accounted for 202 of the evacuees, with employees and vendors accounting for an additional 12 and three people, respectively (see “Harrah’s bingo hall suffers extensive smoke damage in second fire in as many months”).

“We are working on the refund process,” O’brien said. “There were some people obviously who were in play when the incident occurred. We will make sure they are made whole. We know who they are. It is just a matter of when we get that process moving.”

Mirroring the casino’s response to last month’s fire, Harrah’s will also notify customers when they will be able to retrieve any belongings they left behind (see “Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino strives to reopen its bingo hall following fire“).

O’Brien said it is too early to tell how the damage from Thursday’s fire compares to the damage from one in late January. Each started in air-ventilation systems on opposite sides of the hall. One obvious difference, however, is that the previous fire occurred on a Sunday, leaving Harrah’s time to clean up without losing as many business days because it is always closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

This time, with the fire falling on a Thursday, the bingo hall will be closed during what would normally be busy weekend days.

There is no timeline yet on when the bingo hall will reopen.

“We want to make sure we have a safe and clean environment for everyone, and we will take as long as we need to to make sure that happens,” she said.

Harrah’s will alert the public through the media when the hall is ready to reopen, along with information regarding the retrieval of property and to receive refunds.