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Fire damages vacant downtown apartment Saturday night

Las Vegas firefighters responded to a fire at a vacant downtown apartment building Saturday night.

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said fire dispatchers received several calls at 10:29 p.m.

There were indications homeless people were staying in the boarded-up building, he said. There were also reports that a couple of people were staying in the building to do some renovation work. Those people could not be located.

The blaze was in a vacant two-story apartment building at 1424 S. Third Street, near the intersection of Utah with Las Vegas Boulevard.

When firefighters arrived, thick smoke surrounded the building like a thick fog making it difficult to see the extent of the fire, Szymanski said. At first it was believed it was an exterior fire, but it turned out the fire was in a stairwell from the first to second floor of the building, which has twelve units, and into the attic.

Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control in just a few minutes. Flames were confined to the stairwell and a couple of units.

Szymanski said a damage estimate was not immediately available, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

There were no reported injuries.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter:@WesJuhl.

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