The fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, brought to light a lack of compliance with the freedom of information philosophy and its supporting statutes. Freedom of information means circulation of important information. However, at the Grand Hotel, the hotel staff had not been properly trained in disaster procedures, the escape directions of the international hotel were printed only in English, and hotel guests were not properly informed of the extent and seriousness of the fire. The MGM corporation continued to limit freedom of information following the fire. They controlled, for example, the flow to stockholders of insurance and fire inspection reports citing faulty fireproofing and other violations. As numerous lawsuits were filed against MGM, the corporation continued to hamper the investigations of plaintiffs' attorneys and others by restricting access to the hotel property. In addition, the ambiguities of the Nevada Public Records Act kept the press from gaining access to fire inspection records. Disasters will occur, but the frequency and severity of disasters can be lessened considerably by a vigilant public given the required tools--which can only be furnished by full freedom of information. (HTH)