Fire department spokesman
Tim Szymanski said that it was “the worst fire fatality that we’ve had in the city of Las Vegas since the inception of the fire department.”
Szymanski said that the fire was accidentally caused by a first-floor unit’s stove. Residents told investigators that some residents used their stoves for warmth because the building lacked heat.
Most of the injuries were from smoke inhalation, though Szymanski said one victim had broken legs and a possible broken back after falling or jumping from an upper-floor window to escape the heavy smoke.
The fire was largely contained to that one unit, although smoke did reach the rest of the building, according to Szymanski.
Because of the smoke damage, Szymanski said the building is uninhabitable. Around 30 people have been displaced as a result.
The Southern Nevada Red Cross said it sent a team to provide assistance, the AP reported.
A woman identifying herself as a co-owner of the apartment building, Malinda Mier, told news organizations that she was saddened, but did not say in a statement whether the building had heat.
Szymanski said firefighters reported hearing smoke alarms going off, but not fire alarms. The State Fire Marshal’s Office will investigate for code violations, including any involving fire alarms, he said.
The city’s code enforcement office did not immediately return telephone messages Saturday. State law requires landlords to provide heat, but it also leaves it up to residents to notify the landlord.
Saturday’s fire was possibly the deadliest in the Las Vegas area since 1980, when 87 people died and more than 700 were injured in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel.
Fire officials said around 50 people were displaced and the Southern Nevada Red Cross said it sent personnel to provide assistance. County records list the building as having 41 units.
Because of the soot throughout the building, residents will not be able to go back into the building, Szymanski said.
Police had taped off the building, the front of which was blackened by smoke.
When he got out, Sykes saw one apartment on the first floor “was literally just fire and smoke coming out of the windows,” he said.
He and his wife eventually got out of the building by making their way to a neighbor’s apartment. There, they joined other residents in climbing one-by-one out of a bedroom window onto an air conditioning unit before dropping about 15 feet (4.57 meters) down to the ground below, Sykes said.
He and his wife helped four adults and four children escape, handing the children down to adults, he said.
Sykes said he heard a smoke alarm go off only after he and his wife were already out in the hallway contending with the smoke.
“I’m telling you, that place is totally not fit for anybody to live,” he said.
Sykes, who said he’d lived there about six months, said there had been a small fire in the same building about six months ago.
The fire department warned the owner then that smoke detectors had to be installed, and they were put in about a month later, he said.
“But after that, this is what happens,” he said. “Now my wife and I, we need to find a place to live. We’re homeless for the time being.”
The fire caused an estimated $475,000 in damage, Szymanski told the Review-Journal.
Sal Moreno, who lives in the apartment building next door, said police banged on his door around 4:30 a.m. and he fled into a street lit up with police cars, ambulances and fire trucks.
“They made us leave,” Moreno said. “There was people running out with their cats and their dog. ... It was hectic. It was hectic. It was crazy.”
He said the building that burned was low-rent, and he’d heard some of the residents were using their ovens to stay warm because they didn’t have heat.
“It’s kind of a rough little neighborhood,” he said.
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Davenport reported from Phoenix. Associated Press reporter Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
All lanes are blocked
Chris Lovingood WTAE@CLovingoodWTAETRACTOR TRAILER ON FIRE: This is video of the tractor trailer fire from a viewer–and I want to correct a previous tweet– we’re still working to confirm its a crash, but the vehicle was on fire. I can tell you a hazmat crew has been called to the scene. @wtae
