6 dead after fire breaks out at apartment complex in Las Vegas

FAN Editor

Six people are dead Saturday after a fire at an apartment complex in Las Vegas, according to Las Vegas Fire and Rescue public information officer Tim Szymanski. Another 13 people were injured and approximately 30-35 are displaced.

Five are in critical condition, including a pregnant woman, Szymanski said at a press conference.  

Two cats and a dog also died, and one dog was saved, he said.

Trending News

“There was multiple people hanging out windows,” he said. “Some people were already jumping, and it was heavy smoke coming from the building.”

Szymanski said tenants were hanging out windows because the building was inundated with “thick black soot” that “made visibility zero.”

This is the most fatalities from a fire the city has had since the MGM Grand fire of 1980 that killed 87 people, he said. 

Vegas Deadly Apartment-Fire
This photo provided by the Las Vegas Fire Department, firefighters work the scene of a fire at a three-story apartment complex December 21, 2019 in Las Vegas.  AP

The fire broke out early Saturday morning at the Alpine Motel Apartments, in the Downtown Las Vegas area. The property was built in 1973 and houses 42 units, according to apartments.com

Officials said they got multiple 911 calls just after 4 a.m. and responded to the complex. Szymanski said they believe the fire was accidental and started in a stove in one of the units inside the motel.

“We found the fire in an apartment on the first floor … they had the fire out in less than a minute,” Szymanski said. “It was an easy put out, but in the process we found three more people inside the building.”

Displaced tenants told fire investigators there was no heat in the building, and they were using their stove for heating, he said. The fire was contained to one unit and caused approximately $475,000 in damage.

Homicide and coroner investigators were at the scene, which is standard for fatal fires in Las Vegas, the fire department said, The Associated Press reported. No firefighters were injured.

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

DNC announces criteria to qualify for next debate

Watch CBSN Live Copyright © 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. View CBS News In Free America Network Articles