Former Alpine Motel Owner Begins Prison Sentence for Deadly 2019 Fire

Adolfo Orozco-Garcia, 49, the former owner of the Alpine Motel, a Las Vegas residential motel where six people died in a fire on December 21, 2019, has turned himself in to begin serving his sentence.

Orozco-Garcia Begins Prison Sentence

Orozco-Garcia originally faced 27 charges connected to the December 2019 fire that killed six tenants: Donald Keith Bennett, 63; Tracy Ann Cihal, 57; Francis Lombardo Jr., 72; Cynthia Mikell, 61; Kerry Marie Odo-Baclaan, 46; and Henry Lawrence Pinc, 70, making it the deadliest fire within Las Vegas city limits. The fire also injured 13 others and left more than 50 people homeless.

In January, Orozco-Garcia accepted a plea deal, avoiding a lengthy trial that had been scheduled for February. According to court documents, he entered an Alford plea to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of wanton disregard for safety resulting in substantial bodily harm or death.

An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to likely secure a conviction. Orozco-Garcia acknowledged that, under the plea deal, he might serve a shorter sentence than if he had been found guilty at trial. The fire remains the deadliest within Las Vegas city limits.

In June, Clark County District Court Judge Jacqueline Bluth sentenced Orozco-Garcia to a prison term of 19 to 48 months. She permitted him to remain out of custody and granted him 90 days to self-surrender, with that deadline falling on Tuesday. Under the sentence, Orozco-Garcia will be eligible for probation after serving 19 months, with a maximum possible sentence of four years.

What Happened on That Fateful December Day?

The Alpine Motel Apartments fire broke out in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 21, 2019. The three-story building, built in 1972, had a history of failed fire inspections and numerous code enforcement complaints in the years leading up to the tragedy. Some residents, lacking functional heaters, resorted to using kitchen stoves for heat, a practice that sparked the fire.

While the death of the six tenants is tragic, the broader Las Vegas area has seen even deadlier fires. The Alpine Motel Apartments fire is considered the deadliest within Las Vegas itself, as it is in the incorporated area. However, the worst fire-related disaster the broader area has seen has to be the MGM Grand fire occurred on Friday, November 21, 1980, at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.

Located in the unincorporated Paradise area on the Las Vegas Strip, the disaster claimed the lives of 85 people, mostly through smoke inhalation. The fire originated from a refrigerated pastry display case in a first-floor restaurant, with smoke quickly spreading upward through the building and seeping into guests’ rooms on the upper floors. It remains one of the deadliest fires in US history.