Reward offered in fire at Muslim mortuary construction site

Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 | 12:18 p.m.

A year after a devastating fire at a construction site where a Muslim mortuary was being built, the bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the Clark County Fire Department are offering a reward to spur the investigation.

The two agencies are offering $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the Feb. 22, 2012, fire that caused an estimated $1.5 million damage at 4425 E. Cartier Ave., near Lamb Boulevard and Carey Avenue, where a funeral home for Las Vegas’ Islamic community was under construction.

“This was a devastating fire, which resulted in significant loss of property,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Riehl said in a statement. “We are committed to continuing our investigation with our law enforcement partners and we are appealing to the community to come forward with information that could help provide leads for a successful conclusion of this investigation.”

The FBI and Metro Police also participated in the investigation. The investigation led authorities to believe the fire was caused by a person, but they did not determine if it was intentional or accidental.

“We have pursued a number of leads in this case, but none of them have allowed us to identify who caused the fire,” Clark County Fire Chief Bertral Washington said in the statement.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-888-ATF-FIRE, the ATF Las Vegas Field Office at (702) 347-5900 or Crime Stoppers of Nevada (702) 385-5555.