House fire near Centennial Hills Park draws rescue crews
Las Vegas Fire and Rescue crews responded to a house fire near Centennial Hills Park in the northeast valley Saturday evening.
Firefighters were dispatched to the high-alarm fire, located at 7512 White Deer Court, near the intersection of Elkhorn Road with Buffalo Drive, shortly after 6 p.m. Fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski reported heavy fire and smoke were showing from the garage of the single-family house.
The house is just one block across from Fire Station 41 and as firefighters were leaving the station, they could see heavy black smoke coming from the house, according to a release Saturday night.
Szymanski said no one was injured as a result of the blaze, which was mostly confined to the garage and brought under control about 20 minutes later. A laundry room and master bedroom had slight damage, and the rest of the house had a minor smoke odor. The garage was gutted and the attic area above the garage was also damaged.
Damage was estimated at $50,000.
Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa was near the fire and said he heard sounds like fireworks or ammunition going off within the flames and smelled something like gunpowder.
The fire department later confirmed there was a large amount of ammunition in the garage and it was exploding during the fire. Firefighters fought the blaze from a safe distance outside until they felt the ammunition was no longer a danger.
The exact cause of the fire was not determined, but investigators believe they found the area where the fire started: several electrical plug in type objects were found in the area.
The American Red Cross assisted two adults and two children that live in the house with temporary housing.
Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.
