Playing with matches blamed for damage to condo

By Jackie Valley (contact)

Sunday, June 24, 2012 | 11:19 a.m.

A child playing with a lighter started a fire Saturday evening at a Desert Shores Villas condo, causing $25,000 damage, fire officials said.

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue crews responded at 5:27 p.m. to the condo at 3151 Soaring Gulls Drive, near Rampart Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue. Firefighters arrived to find flames coming from the front door and balcony of an upstairs condo, officials said.

Firefighters doused the flames in less than a minute, but the blaze gutted the living room, damaged the balcony and caused heat and smoke damage to the rest of the unit, officials said. Nearby units were not damaged.

Fire investigators determined a child visiting relatives was playing with a lighter when the fire started, officials said. The child alerted an adult in another room when the fire started on a living room sofa, officials said.

The Red Cross was assisting four adults and the child displaced by the fire. No one was injured.