[Photos].Cosmopolitan Hotel In Las Vegas Gutted By Fire Today.

A "ridiculously fast"-spreading fire at the Bamboo Pool at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas early this afternoon clouded the Las Vegas Strip with plumes of smoke, sent at least one person to the hospital and for a time caused closure of a main portion of the Las Vegas Strip.

According to Las Vegas Sun,a witness who was on the Bamboo Pool deck during the blaze told the Sun that employees think the fire was started by a cigarette tossed from one of the hotel's top floors, or possibly discarded by a guest at the pool, into a bush on the pool deck.

The witness said the fire consumed half the cabanas around the pool in less than a minute. Guests were running and screaming as the fire spread "ridiculously fast," and the entire pool deck area was quickly evacuated.

Clark County spokeswoman Sandra Baker said crews with the Clark County Fire Department extinguished the flames, trying to clear the smoke and checking the adjoining building to be sure the fire had not spread. Las Vegas Fire & Medical crews also assisted at the scene.

In a tweet, the fire department reported one person was hospitalized. Several areas of the Cosmopolitan, which opened in 2010 with 2,995 hotel rooms, were evacuated. Las Vegas Boulevard South was closed from Tropicana Avenue to Flamingo Road from 12:45 to about 1:30 p.m. Har