Apartment fire does $150,000 damage

By Mary Manning

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 | 8:55 p.m.

A two-alarm fire that started in a first-floor apartment and spread into the building’s attic did about $150,000 damage to a complex in the northwest Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas Fire Department officials said.

No residents were hurt, but a firefighter was treated for a minor injury, officials said.

The cause of the fire, called in at 2:53 p.m. at 7075 Gowen Road, near U.S. 95, is still under investigation, said Tim Szymanski, spokesman for the Fire Department.

Smoke alarms alerted residents in the building to the blaze, but there were no sprinklers in the complex, which was built in 1995, Szymanski said.

Two units — one of them vacant — sustained heavy fire damage and six other apartments had light smoke damage, Szymanski said. Two other units were not impacted.

The fire apparently started in a downstairs apartment and spread up a wall and a fireplace into the attic, Szymanski said.

Firefighters prevented the flames from engulfing the entire building, Szymanski said. One firefighter was injured and treated but not hospitalized. The firefighter remained on the job, Szymanski said.

Most residents were able to return to their homes, he said.

Two residents in the most heavily damaged apartment were moving into a new unit this evening, Szymanski said. The Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Foundation provided aid to those occupants.