Roaring fire destroys condominiums

Cathy Scott

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 | 9:58 a.m.

A three-alarm fire early today in the northwest valley destroyed a condominium complex under construction and damaged two nearby homes, causing a total of $400,000 in damage, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Firefighters were called to the 1200 block of Dusty Creek Street, near Durango Drive and Washington Avenue, about 3 a.m. and found a building at the Durango Trail Condominiums engulfed in flames, Szymanski said.

"It lit up the whole sky," he said. "It looked like the sun was coming up. The (firefighting) units (approaching the scene) called for a second alarm because they could see the glow in the sky."

When they couldn't get the fire under control, a third alarm was called, bringing firefighters from a downtown station, he said.

Altogether, 70 firefighters and 11 trucks were used to extinguish the fire. Firefighters from North Las Vegas and Clark County filled in at the city stations to cover for their colleagues battling the blaze.

The two-story building, which was in the framing stages with "a lot of exposed wood," became so hot that it spread to two adjacent houses, Szymanski said.

"There was only a cinder-block wall separating the houses," he said. "The fire was so intense and so hot that it started two houses on fire on Maple Star Road. The heat went through the wall and caught the attics on fire."

One of the families was out of town and unaware that their home had been extensively damaged, Szymanski said. About a half-dozen families were evacuated from area homes. No injuries were reported.

Traffic from curious residents was so congested around the blaze that fire department personnel had to weave their vehicles in and out of cars to get to the scene, he said.

"It was unbelievable. There were cars on all the side streets. There had to be a couple hundred people there to watch."

Investigators were at the scene this morning investigating the cause of the fire, Szymanski said.

"We don't know how it started," he said. "We're still putting out the hot spots."

Damage was estimated at $200,000 to the condominium building and $100,000 each to the houses.