Another fire hits church property

Karen Zekan

Thursday, June 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Fire engines raced to the charred remains of the community center at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church after hot falling debris ignited a flare-up in the rubble.

A security guard on duty at the complex spotted smoke spewing out of a roofless Bevan Hall about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and phoned emergency dispatchers.

The small fire was confined to the west corner of the building, and firefighters were able to extinguish the flames within 20 minutes, said Deputy Chief Bill Young of the Las Vegas Fire Department.

"Work crews had been on the property cutting out metal beams from the roof area this afternoon, and a preliminary report says that it was probably heated debris that fell and started the fire," Young said.

The church had contracted the workers to stabilize the condemned structure so investigators could safely explore inside for a cause to Sunday's three-alarm blaze inside Bevan Hall.

The weekend fire gutted the older structure, which had served for almost three decades as the original church. The building was converted to a gymnasium, kitchen and meeting rooms in 1988 when a new church was built on the property.

Workers had left the property about 3 p.m., permitting city fire officials and a team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to begin their investigation. Investigators had left about a half-hour before the small blaze started, Young said.

Firefighters were forced to fight Wednesday's small fire from outside because of the instability of the building.

The flare-up was the third fire in less than a month at Our Lady of Las Vegas. About two weeks ago, a small fire started in one of the columns outside the classrooms located a short distance from Bevan Hall.

Investigators determined the column fire started when heat ignited a large amount of birds' nests built inside the structure, said the Rev. Dave Casaleggio.

Both the column fire and the flare-up were deemed accidental, but investigation into Sunday's $1 million blaze is ongoing.