Shooting range still has hot spot

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2001 | 9:18 a.m.

The Metro Police firearm training center remains closed today after explosions rocked an ammunition bunker on the northeast Las Vegas property Sunday and a "hot spot" was detected Monday.

Clark County firefighters early today were still waiting for an OK from the Las Vegas Fire Department bomb squad before making their way into the bunker to see what caused at least three explosions on the property, at 7600 E. Carey Ave.

On Monday afternoon firefighters flew over the bunker and, using an infrared scanner, located what they believed was a hot spot in the bunker, Metro spokesman Sgt. Chris Darcy said.

The homes closest to the range, about a half mile away, were evacuated Sunday and again Monday when the hot spot was located, Darcy said.

Officials said they were hoping that the hot spot would cool down overnight, so that firefighters could secure the bunker and begin working to determine what caused the explosions at the site near Lake Mead and Hollywood boulevards.

Police remained stationed around the training center throughout Monday night and this morning. Safety measures at the center were successful in containing any danger from the explosions, Darcy said.

The bunker is partially buried under a huge ridge of dirt and sand to minimize damage in case of an incident like Sunday's, Darcy said.

"It was built with safety in mind, and it worked just as it was supposed to," Darcy said.

The dirt ridge, more than two stories high, wraps around the training center, shielding the neighborhood from the range and the bunker, which contains explosives used by Metro and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms.

Sunday's explosions caused minor injuries to two Metro officers who were in a vehicle on a road near the shooting range, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said. The officers were treated with ice packs for "bumps and bruises," Leinbach said.

Sun reporter Ed Koch contributed to this story.