Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2005 | 11:10 a.m.
A Las Vegas man was arrested this morning in the suspected arson fire that gutted at least one room of a sprawling home owned by his parents near downtown Las Vegas.
Sixty firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in a rear room of a gated home in the 1500 block of East Oakey Boulevard near Maryland Parkway.
The man, who had been living in the house with his girlfriend, called 911 from a neighbor's house about 5:45 a.m, Tim Szymanski, a spokesman for Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, said.
Once inside, crews found the fire to be worse than it appeared from the street because boarded windows trapped much of the smoke inside the 3,500-square-foot home, Szymanski said.
He said the home sat on a garbage-strewn 3-acre lot neighbors called "the complex." Inside the home were also a number of household chemicals, which prompted fire crews to wear special air filters.
Szymanski would not say this morning whether the chemicals played a role in the blaze. The resident, who is the son of the owners of the property, was charged with one count of first-degree arson and remained at the Clark County Detention Center this morning, authorities said.
According to the Clark County assessor's Web site, the home has been owned by Hal and Patricia Beesley of Las Vegas since 1976.
Szymanski said the man who had been living at the home had been tasked with maintaining it.
Szymanski refused to release the arrested man's name this morning despite the fact that it is public record. Szymanski said he had not seen his department's yet-unfinished arrest report and would not "take their (investigators') word for it."
Clark County jail officials, however, said the arrested man is Hal Beesley Jr.
Damage to the home was estimated at $100,000, Szymanski said.
The source of the fire "was difficult to locate, which is why we called for a second alarm," Szymanski said. "It was weird."
Although boards over windows are typically a sign of neglect, Szymanski said the occupant told firefighters he opted for boards to protect the inside, which contained several pieces of antique furniture.
There is no law prohibiting homeowners from boarding up their windows, he said.
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