Space heater blamed for fatal fire in home

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Las Vegas Fire Department officials say that a Sunday morning fire that killed a 71-year-old man may have started in an extension cord being used for a space heater.

Roosevelt Jones died in the 5 a.m. fire at 704 W. Monroe Ave. after becoming trapped between the fire and metal security bars welded to his bedroom window, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Cleveland Dickerson, 39, and Wajeeha Bilal, 44, were rescued from the house by two bystanders, who used a tire iron to pry the security bars off the window of the bedroom they were trapped in.

Dickerson and Bilal remain at the University Medical Center burn unit recovering from first- and second-degree burns and are expected to be released by the end of the week.

The victims told investigators that they were using an electric space heater that was attached to an outlet in the living room by an extension cord. Fire investigators found that the cord was plugged into the wall in the area of the fire's origin, and that the cord had been used for the heater for more than a year, Szymanski said.

The constant heating and cooling of the cord would cause it to wear out over a period of time, and the couple estimated that the heater had been running for about 36 hours straight before the fire, Szymanski said.

Extension cords should never be used with electric space heaters because the cords tend to heat up, causing a fire hazard, Szymanski said.

Two dogs were found dead in the back of the house, located between Washington and Owens avenues. The fire gutted most of the inside of the house, causing an estimated $45,000 in damage.