Woman dies in fire in northwest LV home

Keith Paul

Monday, Oct. 2, 2000 | 11:45 a.m.

Las Vegas firefighters found a woman dead in a bedroom gutted by a blaze this morning in northwest Las Vegas.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 30s, was in the bedroom where the fire apparently started about 8 a.m. in a house in the 7200 block of Dalegrove Drive, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Fire investigators are trying to determine what caused the fire. Metro Police homicide detectives were called out to the house, which is standard procedure when there is a fire death, Szymanski said.

"It appears the woman died because of the burns, but we are still investigating," he said.

The Clark County coroner's officer will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, Szymanski said.

Firefighters riding in a fire truck in the area of Cheyenne Avenue and Tenaya Way saw a column of smoke coming from a few blocks away. When they went to investigate they found heavy flames coming out of a house on Dalegrove Drive and called for assistance.

A firefighter was taken to University Medical Center with minor burns sustained while battling the blaze.

A dog also died in the fire and animal control was called to round up several geese in the back yard.

The fire gutted two bedrooms of the one-story house.