Two LV families lose homes in fires

Eric Leake and Emily Richmond

Monday, Dec. 27, 2004 | 11:18 a.m.

When they should have otherwise been enjoying the holidays, two families were coping with the aftermath of house fires Christmas Day.

A family of 12 had to spend Christmas night at temporary housing arranged by the American Red Cross after their home in the 1400 block of Balzar Avenue, near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue, caught fire, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue reported.

Most of the family was gone while one member stayed home and cooked. He left some food cooking in the kitchen and it caught fire, spreading into the attic at around 6:18 p.m., according to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue. The man who had been cooking escaped uninjured.

County records show the home is owned by Timothy Hicks. Damage is estimated at $40,000.

Earlier in the day the Hsie family had awakened in the pre-dawn hours to find their home ablaze. The family of six escaped, but their home, in the 3200 block of Mountain Spring Road, near Desert Inn Road and Decatur Boulevard, was destroyed with damage estimated at $350,000.

Margaret Hsie said this morning she and her 11-year-old son had fallen asleep after watching television in the first-floor family room. She was jolted awake by a burning smell, followed soon after by the screech of the smoke alarm.

"I jumped up screaming for my family," Hsie said. "Before I could hardly turn around there was smoke everywhere -- the door to the garage was melting."

Hsie said her 17-year-old daughter climbed out her bedroom window and then jumped from the roof to the adjacent patio. The rest of the family fled out the front door.

The family's dog, a 9-year-old shih tzu named Valentine, made her own escape through a doggy door, crawling on her belly away from the burning house.

"We were so glad to see her," Hsie said. "We didn't know where she was, and we were called to her, we were trying to figure out if we could go back inside."

Hsie said she and her family are staying with her sister, who recently relocated to Las Vegas.

"We were very lucky to have somebody here," Hsie said. "So many people move here with nobody."

Hsie, who trains disabled adults as part of the Easter Seals' vocational program, said firefighters told her the source of the blaze appeared to have been a faulty water heater.

Large losses were avoided in a warehouse fire at 828 S. Commerce St. near Charleston Boulevard in a third Christmas Day fire.

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue responded to the fire about 12:30 p.m. Firefighters saw thick smoke inside the one-story metal building but no fire, to which they credit an automatic sprinkler system that kept the flames in check.

The fire is believed to have started in a makeshift homeless shelter against the building and to have spread through the wall.

Nobody was reported injured. Damage is estimated at $5,000 but could have been much worse with warehouse contents valued at more than $100,000, authorities said.