Potawatomi Casino Hotel reopened Monday evening, hours after a large fire broke out on the rooftop HVAC system earlier in the day, which led to the evacuation of the casino.
A Potawatomi spokesperson said the decision to reopen was made after Milwaukee Fire Department Chief Aaron Lipski confirmed the building is safe for guests and employees.
WATCH: Large fire at Potawatomi Casino Hotel:
Officials with the Milwaukee Fire Department say they responded to the casino at 11:47 a.m., after many 911 callers reported a plume of smoke rising from the top of the building.
Fire officials say crews arrived on the scene within six minutes of the original 911 call. They say incident commanders coordinated with Potawatomi Casino Hotel security and staff to evacuate the building.
In total, fire officials say 90 firefighters, paramedics, and fire commanders responded to the fire. They say the fire was quickly determined to be limited to the air-handling unit on the roof. Officials say the fire was quickly extinguished, and it was declared fully under control at 12:29 p.m.
Lindsay and Shawn Baumhardt were visiting the casino and were inside when the fire broke out. Shawn said the smell is what they noticed first.
"Like a cord or something that was on fire that you can smell at home," said Shawn. "It was faint at first, but within five minutes, when the security guards were telling us to get out and kind of making people get out."
That's when they describe smoke filling in near the main entrance.
"You could see the smoke really filling up in the place," said Lindsay. "It was getting foggy in there."
They had just cashed when they were ordered to evacuate.
Officials with the Potawatomi Casino Hotel said fire damage was contained to the HVAC system. The casino has a fully operational backup HVAC system. The hotel, which uses its own HVAC system, was not impacted by the fire.
"The entire casino is being evacuated," according to a post from Potawatomi's Facebook page.
Watch: Ben Jordan escorted away by security while reporting on Potawatomi fire:
During live coverage of the fire Monday, an exchange played out on air between a Potawatomi employee and TMJ4's Ben Jordan. Around 3 p.m. that afternoon, the employee spoke with TMJ4 management, walking back his assertion that Jordan was on private property, and apologized for insisting the news crew was in the wrong.
The apology came just a minute after TMJ4 spoke with the city's Department of Public Works, who confirmed the street where Jordan and his photographer were standing is a public right of way, not private casino property.
Watch: Potawatomi apologizes to TMJ4
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