11 townhomes damaged in fire

Karen Zekan

Thursday, May 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

A cup of coffee was all Debra Payne had in mind when she plugged the black plastic appliance's cord into the kitchen wall.

The sparks that shot from the outlet seconds later weren't nearly as frightening as the small counter top blaze that started next. She said she pulled out the cord, shut off the breakers, doused the flames with an extinguisher and was relieved when property maintenance workers later told her all was OK.

But what Payne had no way of knowing was that Wednesday's 1 p.m. disaster was far from over.

Inside the wall, where no eyes could see, the fire was still burning its way up to the attic. An hour and a half later, Clark County firefighters were battling a three-alarm blaze that in the end damaged 11 townhouses and caused an estimated $250,000 in damage.

"I was outside when I saw smoke coming out of the roof," said Payne, 26, who has been living in building 15 of the Paradise Spa townhomes, 9457 Las Vegas Boulevard South, for three months. "My neighbor said his place was on fire."

Word spread fast through the building and neighbors exited their homes. At least one called 911 at 2:26 p.m. and two hopped on the roof with garden hoses until help could arrive.

"All I could see was smoke coming out of the vents," said a 34-year-old resident who declined to give his name. "I climbed up on the wall to get on the roof. I thought soaking the roof would get it to stop, but then smoke was coming out of all the vents."

The man said he was pulling his television and newly purchased couches out of his residence a few doors east of unit 290 where the fire started when firefighters yelled for him to get away from the building. Payne said she took a chance and ran in to grab pictures.

The complex of individually owned units, located about three miles south of the Luxor hotel-casino, is at least 30 years old and was built before attic fire walls and smoke detectors were required, said Bob Leinbach, fire department spokesman.

"The investigators have determined that this was an electrical fire and an accident," Leinbach said. "Electrical fires are hot by nature, and if combustibles are nearby, like drapes and clothing, they spread that much faster."

Of the building's 16 units, seven sustained fire, water, heat and smoke damage, and four were damaged by firefighters' attempts to contain the blaze by breaking though ceilings and windows, Leinbach said.

Neighbors spoke of having problems with the electrical system for at least a year. One man said his lights dim every time someone else in the building turns on a fan. One woman said she's been having trouble with her outlets sparking the past few days.

"If you have a fire, call the fire department even if it's small and you can put it out yourself," Leinbach said. "We will come out and check everything thoroughly. The residents here were lucky; no one was hurt. Had this happened at night when people were sleeping, we could have had people hurt or even killed."

Authorities removed the coffee pot from the burned unit and photographed it on the lawn.

Mike Patterson, fire investigator, said Payne's story about the appliance disaster fits with the rest of the charred evidence inside the building.

"We go in and look at the damage to see if it concurs with what witnesses tell us," Patterson said. "The outlet, of course, is melted now, but the area where she (Payne) was talking about fits in with where the fire appears to have started in the wall."

Patterson, who has investigated a vast number of electrical fires, advised that residents get electrical items and outlets checked in the event they smoke, spark or seem to be functioning abnormally.

"If you can't get satisfaction out of the property maintenance people or management, call the (city or county) building department," he said. "Register a complaint and get the problem taken care of."