Five injured in gas explosion in transitional housing

Heather Rawlyk

Monday, May 10, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

Heather Rawlyk

A natural gas explosion in a Las Vegas transitional housing unit injured five people and forced the evacuation of more than 300 others Saturday night.

The explosion occurred around 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Transitional Housing Complex on West Owens Avenue near Main Street, according to Deputy Chief Greg Gammon of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue.

Bystanders told firefighters on the scene that four people had gone to the apartment complex in an effort to reach their friend, an older man who they described as being "despondent" throughout the day, Gammon said.

The man was inside his first-story apartment with the door and windows shut and a gas stove burner left turned on with no flame for "a prolonged period of time," Gammon said.

When the four friends of the occupant opened the front door, a spark caused the explosion, he said.

"Southwest Gas officials told us that in instances where gas is built up inside an enclosed structure, something as little as turning on a light switch could cause that spark," Gammon said.

The explosion knocked the four people back into a grass area, Gammon said, and the front door and back windows were blown out from the explosion.

The man was still inside the apartment during the explosion, he said.

The five people were rushed to University Medical Center, where the older man was listed in serious condition Saturday night. The four others were treated for second-degree burns, Gammon said. Two were released Sunday afternoon, and two remained in the hospital this morning, Charles Desiderio, spokesman for the Salvation Army, which runs the transitional housing, said.

Police and firefighters were uncertain if the explosion was the result of a suicide attempt, Gammon said. The man had not been interviewed by Sunday, leaving police with few answers, he said.