Woman dies in early morning trailer fire

By Mary Manning, Dave Toplikar

Published Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009 | 6:32 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009 | 1:28 p.m.

A 58-year-old woman who had been a five-time cancer survivor was the victim of an early morning fire that swept through a travel trailer that burst into flames in northwestern Las Vegas.

The Clark County coroner's office has not released her name or cause of death.

Clark County Fire Department investigators are looking into possible causes, including smoking, a space heater or faulty electrical wiring, said Scott Allison, spokesman for the county fire department.

The woman was found near the door of the 20-foot motor home behind a residence at 8875 Hickam Ave., near the intersection of Hickam and El Capitan Way, Allison said. She was the mother of the home's residents, he said.

Several 911 calls were received by emergency dispatchers because the motor home, as well as a fifth-wheel trailer that could attach onto a pickup truck bed, were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at about 4:20 a.m., Allison said.

"We believe the fire is accidental," Allison said, but the investigation is ongoing.

Firefighters found items in piles inside the trailer and family members told fire investigators that the woman went to the motor home to watch television and sometimes to smoke, as they could smell the odor of cigarettes, Allison said.

The travel trailer and the fifth-wheeler were parked several feet from the house, Allison said.

Firefighters were able to douse the flames in a few minutes. When they searched inside the travel trailer, they found the body of the woman inside.