Man perishes in Las Vegas blaze

Jace Radke and Ed Koch

Monday, Jan. 22, 2001 | 11:11 a.m.

The residents of 704 W. Monroe Ave. were well protected from the criminal element with bars welded to their windows, but fire officials today said they could not find a smoke detector in the house that was gutted Sunday by fire.

"We can't say 100 percent for sure whether a smoke detector burned up in the fire, but we found no evidence of one," said Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski of the blaze that killed a man and two dogs and hospitalized two other residents with serious burns.

"It is not unique to Las Vegas for people to take such precautions to prevent someone from coming in and killing them. But if you make it so secure no one can get in, then it's also impossible to get out."

The name and age of the dead man were not immediately released pending notification of relatives, the Clark County Coroner's office said today. The dead man has been described only as a longtime West Las Vegas resident.

Fire investigators have not been able to talk to a 44-year-old woman who suffered first- and second-degree burns over 3-5 percent of her body and a 39-year-old man who suffered first- and second-degree burns to 7-10 percent of his body during the 5 a.m. fire.

Both remained sedated in good condition today at University Medical Center, Szymanski said, noting it would not be until at least this afternoon that investigators could interview them to get a better picture of what happened.

The blaze started in the living room and caused $45,000 damage. The cause remains under investigation, Szymanski said.

A pair of Good Samaritans saved two of the residents. Alvin Robertson, 56, and James Grace, 45, were passing by Sunday when they saw smoke and flames coming from the home between Washington and Owens avenues.

The two men heard a woman scream for help from a front bedroom and saw that her escape route out a window was blocked by security bars, Szymanski said.

Robertson and Grace pried the bars off the window and pulled the people to safety. The iron security bars did not have emergency safety latches allowing them to open from the inside, causing the people to become trapped between the bars and the fire, fire department officials said.

"The woman told us her daddy was in the back room, but we couldn't get to him," Robertson said. "The bars were welded to the house."

Firefighters later found a man dead inside the house. Two dogs also were found dead in the home, apparently killed by smoke inhalation, Szymanski said.

The woman suffered burns on her face, and the surviving man suffered burns on his head, face, hands and back.

Fire investigators said the house had a number of space heaters and ash trays full of cigarette butts. There were also extension cords running inside and outside the house, Szymanski said.

Metro homicide detectives are working with fire investigators, which is routine on fires where a fatality occurs. This was the first fatal fire in the city this year. Last year three people died in fires in the city's jurisdiction.