Body found in NLV gas station that exploded Sunday

By Rich Coleman, Jackie Valley

Published Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 | 3:10 p.m.

Updated Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 | 6 p.m.

North Las Vegas fire investigators found a body Monday morning inside a gas station that erupted in flames early Sunday, officials said.

North Las Vegas Police spokeswoman Chrissie Coon said fire crews called police when they found the body in the gutted building about 8 a.m. Monday.

"When they put the fire out yesterday, the building wasn't quite safe enough to enter," Coon said, explaining why the body wasn't found sooner.

Police detectives are working with fire investigators to determine the cause of the fire and the circumstances surrounding the death of the person found inside the building. At 4 p.m. Friday, fire officials still were trying to secure the walls of the building so they could enter the building and continue the investigation.

"It is too early to classify this case as anything more than a death investigation," police said in a statement.

The name of the person who died and a cause of death will be released by the coroner's office.

Officials on Sunday described the gas station fire as an explosion and fireball that gutted the building. It had recently gone out of business.

North Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Cedric Williams said fire crews responded at 2:04 a.m. Sunday to the call and saw heavy smoke and flames pouring from the business at 3820 E. Craig Road in the northeast valley.

The explosion at the gas station tore off the building's roof and sent the front door through the air about 100 feet, he said.

The blaze consumed the single-story, 1,000-square-foot building and caused $100,000 in damage, fire officials said. Forty firefighters extinguished the fire within 35 minutes of arrival, Williams said.

Officials said the gas pumps at the station weren't involved in the explosion.