Probe of deadly fire comes up empty

Keith Paul

Tuesday, April 18, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

More extensive testing by a Washington, D.C., lab failed to determine if the March blaze at an apartment complex where three children died was arson or accidental, Clark County fire officials said.

Investigators say the fire appears to have started in the living room of Helen Williams' second-floor apartment. Her three children died in their bedroom. But beyond that, fire investigators have reached no conclusions.

Investigators also have no more tests to conduct on pieces of flooring on which an arson-detection dog appeared to have sniffed something that may have been connected to the start of the fire. A Las Vegas lab couldn't determine if the substance was connected to the fire, and the samples were sent off for more testing.

"The Washington lab came back with the same result as the Las Vegas lab. There is some unidentified substance on all the samples, but neither lab can identify what it is," said William Porter, assistant Clark County fire chief. "We cannot say it was accidental, and we cannot say it was deliberate."

Porter said investigators will continue searching for the cause of the March 7 blaze at the Cedar Springs Apartments on Karen Avenue that killed Williams' three children -- Ladeana, 4, Jae, 3, and Eric, 2 -- and 73-year-old Sam Kloner, who lived in a downstairs apartment.

"Our scientific data has reached the end of its rope," Porter said. "We need someone to come forward" with more information in the case.

Metro Police homicide detectives and fire investigators have questioned Williams several times about the fire. Porter would not say what she has told investigators.

Williams told the Sun a few hours after the March fire that she was asleep on the sofa in the living room when she awoke to the sound of the sliding glass door shattering. She said the flames were blocking her path to her children, and she tried several times to reach them and then fled the burning apartment.

Homicide detectives have been part of the investigation, but homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen has said there is no conclusion that the fire was deliberately set and so far there is no crime. If the fire is determined to be deliberately set, that could change.

County fire officials have gone to great pains to find the answer to how the deadly fire started. Investigators, with help from the complex's insurance company, rebuilt part of the burned out apartment.

Investigators have spoken to many residents at the complex and sifted through the remains of the apartment several times, but still have not been able to determine what caused the fire.

"It could have been accidental. It could have not been accidental, but right now we can't say one way or the other," Porter said. "The investigation will remain open."

The Cedar Springs fire caused $500,000 in damage and forced scores of residents to find new homes in the deadliest fire since the 1981 Las Vegas Hilton blaze that killed eight.