Three building fires leave minor damage

Tuesday, May 25, 2004 | 8:49 a.m.

Three building fires were put out by Las Vegas Fire & Rescue crews and all three Monday night fires did minor damage.

An elderly man who fell asleep while smoking in bed in his first floor apartment sparked a fire in a three-story concrete senior citizen apartment building at 2525 W. Washington Ave. about 7:30 p.m. Monday.

The Levy Gardens apartments are next door to Las Vegas Fire Station 3, fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

An automatic fire sprinkler in the apartment doused the mattress fire as firefighters arrived, Szymanski said. The man was taken to University Medical Center where he was treated for smoke inhalation.

Damage was estimated at $2,500. None of the other apartments was affected and careless smoking appears to be the cause.

A candle was believed to have ignited another fire about an hour later that damaged a mobile home at 4205 Peace Blossom Lane, Szymanski said. The occupants ran to a neighbor's home and asked them to call the fire department.

Two adults and three children were assisted by the American Red Cross and there were no injuries. There was no estimate of damages.

Firefighters responded to a vacant duplex at 1132 S. Casino Center Blvd. at West Charleston Boulevard about 7:20 p.m., where a one-story stucco building was burning.

The building had burned a number of times before Monday, Szymanski said. Homeless people were seen leaving the building shortly before firefighters arrived.