Man confined to bed dies in house fire

By Brian Nordli

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013 | 7:55 a.m.

A man died and three other people suffered smoke inhalation Thursday morning after their house caught fire, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Just after midnight, firefighters received reports of a house fire in the 4300 block of Nolan Lane, near Alta Drive and Decatur Boulevard.

A man at the house was watching television when he smelled smoke. He went to check on a roommate, who was confined to his bed from an injury, but he couldn’t make it beyond a thick veil of black smoke that filled the hallway, Szymanski said.

He and another man escaped out the front door; a third roommate escaped through a bedroom window, Szyamanski said.

When firefighters arrived, heavy fire and smoke filled the one-story home, and the fourth man was still inside.

It took firefighters 10 minutes to extinguish the fire, Szymanski said. They discovered the fourth roommate dead in a rear bedroom, he said.

The other three people were transported to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and possible carbon monoxide poisoning, Szymanski said.

Fire investigators determined that careless smoking or a space heater caused the fire, Szymanski said. The roommates of the deceased man said he smoked and had space heater near his bed, where the fire started.

The fire caused about $100,000 damage to the house. It was the first fire fatality of the year, Szymanski said.