Man severely burned in apartment fire, mother and children escape

Mother lowers children, ages 3 and 5, to safety from second-story balcony

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 | 4:35 a.m.

Apartment fire

A man was burned over half his body in an apartment fire from which a mother and two small children escaped with smoke inhalation early Wednesday, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue said.

Multiple 911 callers said a woman was screaming that she and her children were trapped in a second-story unit at the Northpointe Apartments, near Cheyenne Avenue and Rancho Drive.

The woman lowered the children, ages 3 and 5, from a balcony and then escaped the blaze the same way, fire officials said.

When firefighters arrived shortly after midnight, they found a man on the ground outside with severe burns over the upper half of his body, officials said. He was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition.

The mother and children were taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, officials said. None of the occupants’ names were immediately released.

A neighbor also suffered minor smoke inhalation helping get the people out of the apartment and was taken to the hospital, the fire department reported.

Firefighters arrived to discover heavy smoke and flames coming out of the front door of the apartment in the 3300 block of North Michael Way, officials said. The fire appears to have started in the kitchen, but the cause is under investigation.

The apartment, which was built in 1987, was equipped with smoke detectors but no sprinklers, fire officials said.

Damage was estimated at $50,000.

The kitchen of the upstairs apartment was gutted, and the rest of the unit sustained heavy smoke damage. A downstairs apartment had water damage and some of the other apartments in the 16-unit building had a light odor of smoke, officials said.

Live chat: Tuesday, noon PST; Chat with Krista Creelman; Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question