Apartments destroyed in three-alarm blaze

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

A three-alarm blaze leveled two large apartment buildings under construction near downtown Las Vegas this morning.

Several people called 911 about 4 a.m. reporting a huge fire on Maryland Parkway between Washington Avenue and Bonanza Road. Las Vegas firefighters found two, two-story apartment buildings at the Maryland Villas apartments on 12th Street on fire, Las Vegas Fire Department officials said.

About 100 firefighters from Las Vegas, Clark County and North Las Vegas with about 25 fire trucks battled the blaze. There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.

The fire and the commotion woke Elizabeth Shavers and her neighbors from their 12th Street homes right across the street from the apartment buildings.

"It was scary. The fire could have come over the way," said Shavers, a retired hotel maid who has lived in Las Vegas for 40 years. "Sparks from the fire were going everywhere, but they (firefighters) did a good job."

The Maryland Villas buildings have been under construction for the past several years, but a property manager told fire officials there has been no work done on the apartment in about three years. The two destroyed buildings have 32 apartments each.

Firefighters worked to keep the fire from spreading to other apartments in the complex, which were also under construction.

Shavers said no one has ever lived in the apartments.

Several neighbors told fire investigators homeless people used the buildings. A security officer, hired by the property management, checked the buildings about 3:30 a.m. and found no indication of problems. The fire started about 30 minutes later, fire officials said.

The heat from the fire caused several power poles to catch fire, knocking out the power to the area from Las Vegas Boulevard to Eastern Avenue and Washington Avenue to Bonanza Road. Nevada Power had workers in the area by 7 a.m. restoring power, officials said.

There was no property damage loss estimate this morning.