LV apartment blaze forces evacuations

David Kihara

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 | 11:19 a.m.

At least 39 people were forced out of their homes by a fire burned through their apartment building on Algonquin Drive near Flamingo Road early this morning, officials said.

The two-alarm fire, which is still under investigation, started a little before 2:30 a.m. and destroyed 16 units at the Rivergate Village Apartments, 3940 Algonquin Drive, said Bob Leinbach, spokesman for the Clark County Fire Department.

The fire department evacuated seven apartment buildings while fighting the flames, Leinbach said. No one was hurt in the blaze.

At least 50 emergency personnel responded to the fire, he said.

The fire also destroyed several storage buildings that were under construction and in the exposed framing stage, he said.

"They burn easily and rapidly," he said.

A dollar estimate of damage was not available this morning.

The fire department moved residents of the apartment complex to Orr Junior High School and to another nearby apartment complex to receive temporary shelter as fire officials extinguished the blaze, he said.

Orr Junior High school, about a block from the fire, was not affected by the blaze, said George Leavens, principal of the school.

Leavens said residents of the apartment arrived at the school at about 2:45 a.m. and were given juice, water and other refreshments.

At least 39 of the apartment building's residents, along with "a few dogs and a couple of cats" went to the school, Leavens said.

One student from Orr Junior High School also was taken to the school for temporary shelter, but Leavens said the student's residence was not one of the units that was destroyed.

No one who showed up at the school required medical assistance, Leavens said.

The fire department allowed people to return to their homes in all but two of the buildings around 5 a.m., the fire department reported.

Leavens said the people seeking shelter at the school left around 5:45 this morning.