Blaze that destroyed veterans building blamed on smoker

Thursday, May 26, 2005 | 11:10 a.m.

A careless smoker is believed to have accidentally started the fire that destroyed the headquarters of the Nevada Paralyzed Veterans of America near Rancho and Vegas drives Wednesday night, a fire department spokesman said this morning.

It took more than 60 firefighters about an hour to get the two-alarm blaze at 1630 Sunset Drive under control, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said. When firefighters arrived at 7:47 p.m., the smoke was so thick they couldn't see anything, Szymanski said. Firefighters had to move carefully to avoid possible live electrical wires, not to mention what was apparently exploding ammunition, he said.

Reports of explosions from the fire could have been from ammunition used for trap shoots held to raise money for the veterans, said Julie Fabian Johnson, assistant executive director of the 300-member organization.

Szymanski said that "residue gunpowder from spent bullet casings donated to the group from area gun clubs may have helped accelerate the fire."

Damages to the one-story ranch-style home that the organization has used as its office since 1999, and to its large storage shed, were estimated at $150,000.

There also was some damage to the Rancho Mini Storage units to the north of the veteran's building, Szymanski said.

As Jay Segarra, president of the Nevada Paralyzed Veterans of America, sat in his wheelchair and stared at the smoking ruins of his group's headquarters Wednesday night, he said, "This is a devastating blow to us."

The organization helps paralyzed veterans by donating items to their neediest peers and works on legislation for them. It lost computers, office supplies, wheelchairs, medical equipment, blankets and other gifts when the main building and a shed went up in flames, Fabian Johnson said.

The organization conducts yard sales four times a year and the headquarters typically had been open to serve paralyzed veterans from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Szymanski said one worker was at the headquarters at the time of the fire and told investigators that he had been smoking in the yard behind the office and that there were flammable materials present in that same area, which is where the fire was determined to have started.

Szymanski said investigators haven't said one of the worker's cigarettes was directly to blame, but that "they felt there was sufficient evidence to believe that careless smoking caused the fire."

Fabian Johnson said a friend called her and told her theheadquarters was going up in flames shortly before 8 p.m. Fabian Johnson said that two other workers were at the office when she left at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and after learning of the fire, she had confirmed that they were not injured.

Metro Police diverted traffic on Rancho Drive and went door to door, warning neighbors about the thick, black smoke.

Neighbor Ruth Evans Martin said her power and her phone went out because of the fire.

"I was shaking all over and went outside," Evans Martin said. "It was like one big bonfire."