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StumbleBlaze at Henderson pallet storage yard brought under control
Kristin Donaldson / Las Vegas Sun
Amanda Sheehan, 19, from Las Vegas sits on top of her car on Boulder Highway to watch a four-alarm fire at a pallet yard across the street. The yard caught fire on Tuesday evening.
Published Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 7:59 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, June 9, 2010 | 4:16 a.m.
Henderson Pallet Fire
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Watch the KVBC news team's report on a palette fire off Boulder Highway during the station's complete coverage of the 2010 primary election.
Pallet storage yard fire
Firefighters battled a massive, four-alarm blaze at a pallet storage yard off Boulder Highway on Tuesday night that forced the evacuation of a nearby hotel and other businesses, officials said.
Nobody was injured, but damage was estimated at more than $2 million, fire officials said.
Boulder Highway was closed in both directions in the area of West Barrett Street while units from the Henderson and Clark County fire departments worked to extinguish the fire, Henderson Deputy Fire Chief Steve Goble said.
The fire, reported about 7:20 p.m. in the 400 block of Mark Leany Drive, had been brought under control by 10:30 p.m. But fire crews were expected to be on the scene past midnight mopping up and putting out remaining hot spots, Goble said.
“It’s well controlled and well contained now,” he said.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, Goble said.
The fire spread to an adjacent warehouse that sustained extensive damage when the roof collapsed, officials said. Several other nearby businesses sustained heat damage, such as broken glass and melted plastic, as well as smoke damage, officials said.
The pallet yard stretches nearly the entire length of the south side of Mark Leany Drive and sits behind several businesses.
Flames from the fire were visible more than 13 miles away, and smoke could be seen across the valley. A nearby Holiday Inn and several other businesses were evacuated, Goble said.
At the nearby Skyline Restaurant and Casino, a pit boss said there was a strong smell of smoke in the air and a number of explosions could be heard.
“It was enormous,” he said. “Everyone cleared out of here to watch the fire. They’re not gambling.”
Goble said a number of propane tanks were reported at the site, which may have been responsible for some of the explosions.
Fire investigators expect there will be a lengthy investigation to determine the cause of the blaze, he said.
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Can we say insurance?
Making room for a Hotel
Actually its closer to Barrett St and on a lot that is on Athol Ave. The fire was pretty big when I viewed it from Sunset and Boulder Hywy where I could also hear little explosions like gas tanks were popping...but I don't know that for sure. There are other reports that the Holiday Inn at Boulder Hywy is being evacuated and they are finally diverting traffic becuase up until 8:15 -8:30 there were many many commuters driving right by the area. I saw atleast 5 fire trucks and 1 or 2 ambulances drive by so it is a surprise that it is being called a 2 or 3 fire alarm. It looked like a 4 or higher for sure especially with all the chemical storage and auto repair areas in the same area. Not to mention the Skyline and Joker's Wild casinos too which are close enough to atleast smell the burning chemicals. Sorry but I sisnt get any pics but I saw alot of people taking them so I am sure they will pop up soon.
Hope no one got hurt and that its not to hard to put out esp. becuase its hot enough and those fireman don't need this to deal with too!
This is gonna cut into nap time.
Well, me and my friends were at the pool while we saw the blaze smoke BELLOWING from the scene... That's when my dad came to get us and tell us to go home because of the blaze. He was worried about the chemicals in the air. There is a picture on my mother's Facebook wall, here is a link to a picture from our patio.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=18...
Well they are not telling us everything...I heard 4 explosions and I live at least 2 miles away. I drove down there bad saw 4 Military personnel walking around and moving cones..It is much more than just pallets.. I am getting so sick and tired of the media lying to us..It is as if they think we are all freaking brainless zombies!
@Jodipino... lying media or media that reported what was given to them? @Sandy... Really?
Insurance...ha, for the firefighters jobs and overtime.
staying at sunset hotel a little way out, could still see the flames and hear some of the explosions, the family i had over didnt think those were pallets. sounded more like cans, can still here them go off
Get Sisolak suited up! Save Clark County some money. I'm sure the fire guys will have his back.
pallets give off toxic smoke and where not stacked far enough apart.
I want to thank the fire heroes fighting this conflagration of pallets that could have lead to the loss of a lot of lumber. Remember this heroism, taxpayers, when the cruel city councils try to cut their pay to under 200G. I just hope that not many of the heroes will be forced to go on disability, forcing their overstressed comrades to work overtime.
God, it's hell being a fireman. No wonder they can't find any people to take the job for less money.
You should go sign up Ted. They are always hiring. Or, do you just like to talk?
I have to agree with jodipino, my wife and I heard some explosions and then a friend called and told us he saw the news flash on the bottom of screen of the Laker game. I then went outside and saw the billowing black smoke. Crazy!
Sounds to me like this fire was allowed to spread to neighboring businesses and caused a lot of damage.
I wonder how many actual structure fires there are in the valley in a day or year.
I can't wait until it's one of your houses!! I want to hear your whinning then, you ungrateful Vegas Swine!
The irony of some one with the moniker "Anarchy" defending municipal firefighters is pretty rich.
Anarchy, try another name or another attitude.
A lot of Monday morning quarterbacks here. Hey dhvincent1. "the biggest danger is overheating?" If you really knew as much as you act like you do, you would know "overheating" is pretty dangerous in itself. I wouldn't expect you to understand, but I do expect you to stop acting like you do.
ThisOneGuy- Please explain to me in your infinite wisdom that how this "sounds to you like the fire was allowed to spread". Unless I interpreted it wrong, it sounds like quite an insult an a very serious accusation.
@dhvincent1- So tell me how long have you been(where) on the job?
Wow!!! Everyone be calm and the fiery situation will be solved when the investigation is complete... No need to panic now,, the fire is out...
It's a four alarm fire and it spread to adjoining properties. Someone wasn't doing their job correctly.
Again how many structure fires do valley firefighters actually fight in a year?
It amazes me how many people here know more about firefighting than the actual FF's themselves. You guys are the BEST!!!!!
MY building was one of the buildings scorched.hence the name.My company truck was melted by this pallet fire, I saw and felt the wind blowing from the southwest( I was watching from Warm Springs road) and the way our building are situated any single minded person can see that this fire was very well contained considering the 20 ft stacks of pallets that consumed the entire yard.They were stacked what I would estimate to be around 6-8 ft away from the wall and the wall is around eighteen inches from the "adjacent building " and truck ie My company truck .So i do not think that anyone can really pin this on the fire fighters. The air quality was bad even after the fire was out and I was allowed back in to have my building boarded up and assess the damage. At 2 AM this morning it was still hot enough to make it difficult to work. I was in shorts and sweating like a pig,I wasn't even inside my building the concrete wall have big chunks missing from Rapid cooling. hooray to the firefighters for the tough battle won.