5-day junkyard blaze extinguished

Karen Zekan

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

After five days of flames and thousands of gallons of water, a raging blaze at two neighboring northeast Las Vegas junkyards is finally out.

The Clark County Fire Department left a crew behind to watch for hot spots and flare-ups overnight, but deemed the fire that consumed nearly 10 acres of rubbish stored off Lamb Boulevard and Smiley Road officially stopped at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Fire investigators now must comb through the mounds of soggy muck -- piled in some spots more than 20 feet high -- to determine how the fire initially ignited about noon Friday inside the C&W Construction Clean-Up lot.

Firefighters' efforts to contain the blaze were first hampered by discovering the closest hydrant dry, and then lower-than-desirable water pressure in the next-closest hydrant almost a mile away, authorities said.

North Las Vegas firefighters joined the assault as southeast winds quickly whipped the blaze toward Smiley and Copper Sage Street that afternoon and into neighboring Shear Force Railroad and Steel Company's lot, a business which shreds wood scraps into chips.

"The wind was pushing the fire to the fuel source (the wood scraps) and away from the water supply," said Bob Leinbach, fire department spokesman.

Flames caused batteries in several cars stored on the two lots to explode, and also ignited a 3,000-gallon gas tank, Leinbach said.

More than 8,000 feet of five-inch supply line connected the closest hydrants to the affected area.

By Sunday, tractors and front-end loaders were shifting and sifting through the charred earth and rubble, including tires, dead trees, trash and other construction debris.

"Our big concern was for the homes, which are about 500 to 1,000 feet southeast from here," Leinbach said.

The fire department had stationed two engines in the neighborhood as a precaution, but were saved from having to use them when the wind's direction shifted in the opposite direction over the weekend, Leinbach said.

Rainfall on Monday, although minimal, also worked in firefighters' favor.

"Fortunately, this fire was a low-risk situation," Leinbach said. "While the loss may have been great to the owners of these businesses, people's lives are our main priority and fortunately they were not in danger. The loss of even 10 junkyards cannot compare to the loss of one school."

One firefighter, whose name was not released, suffered an ankle injury Tuesday.

C&W, which makes fiberboard out of wood scraps, was operating without a business license and could be facing legal troubles with the county, authorities said.

Shear Force had a business license but had nothing on file with CCFD for having installed a sprinkler system or other fire prevention system as repeatedly requested by fire and code enforcement inspectors since June, Leinbach said.