Troubled storage yard sold; cleanup after blaze continues

Jeff Donaldson

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

Cleanup of a storage yard where squatters may have sparked a blaze on May 25 continues today, even as Clark County officials report the sale of the troubled junk lot located in the shadow of Nellis Air Force Base.

Bob Leinbach, Clark County Fire Department spokesman, said the exact cause of the fire in the lot off Cheyenne Avenue may never be known. Firefighters responded to the area at 5:30 a.m. in time to see squatters who were sleeping in abandoned RV trailers run from the scene.

The property, which was owned by Dick Howe, had been cited over a six-month period for having as many as 10 vagrants living on the property "surrounded by their possessions ... with evidence of illegal dumping of waste and raw sewage" on the ground.

Howe voluntarily began cleaning up the yard in early May. Clark County spokesman Russell Davis confirmed Tuesday that Howe sold the 4.5-acre lot on June 1 to Redlands, Calif., businessman Juan Raul Acosta for $950,000.

The property has been cleaned up considerably since the date of the fire, with all lean-to shacks torn down and major rubble piles removed. Two large orange dumpsters sit in the middle of the lot, and three abandoned trailers out of more than one dozen which sat beside the road are all that remain.

"As of now, we couldn't find anything specifically that caused the fire," Leinbach said, adding that fire investigators were surprised to learn about the sale. "The (owner) was getting hammered by all the different agencies. He could have just come out and said, 'I'm not the owner anymore,' but he didn't."

Leinbach said investigators still were looking into the fire. Attempts to contact Acosta, the new property owner, Tuesday and Wednesday failed.

Four fire departments, including Nellis firefighters, responded to the fire on May 25, which started around a trailer and three wooden shacks. Fighting the intense blaze was complicated by the lack of water on the scene and nearly all of the area around the flames was destroyed.

Metro Police meanwhile placed orange stickers on the abandoned trailers and vans that sat outside the gates of the storage lot. Nearly all have been removed, yet squatters could still be seen using the remaining trailers Tuesday.

One squatter, who would only give his name as Kinney, said he would continue to use the trailers until officials take them away.

"It's the only home I got," Kinney said.

Clark County fire and health officials were overseeing the cleanup of the yard, although Howe would be responsible for the cost of cleanup, Davis indicated.

Leinbach said investigators did interview some of the squatters who later returned after the fire, but most had claimed they had long since left.

"Although the fire was really bad, it was a symptom of the situation with people living out there. It's been that way for years," Leinbach said.