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Warehouse fire west of Las Vegas Strip destroys donated school supplies for children with autism

The large warehouse that went up in 50-foot flames early Thursday was a corporate facility for a local charity organization, and the blaze destroyed thousands of donated school supplies for children with autism.

Clark County firefighters responded to the burning 20,000-square-foot warehouse at 4343 Polaris Ave., near Harmon Avenue, about 12:05 a.m. Flames could be seen from Interstate 15 and nearby Strip resorts.

More than 70 firefighters fought the blaze after county crews called in Las Vegas Fire Department crews to help.

Huge firee right now in Las Vegas

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The warehouse bordered Luxe Pet Hotels, a resort for animals at 3480 Cavaretta Court. At one point, the burning Polaris warehouse became structurally compromised, county fire chief Greg Cassell said, “and it was feared that the building would collapse” on the neighboring pet hotel.

Out of an abundance of caution, firefighters evacuated the 30 animals staying at the pet hotel to a safe area with the help of county animal control.

No people or animals were injured, though a different neighboring building sustained damage.

 

Nichol Zamora, the manager of Peoples Autism Foundation, the charity organization that operated out of the warehouse, said Thursday morning that the fire destroyed the charity’s entire inventory of donated school supplies, set aside for distribution to children with autism in the Las Vegas Valley .

“We’ve got to start from scratch,” Zamora, said while standing a few feet from the yellow police tape stretched in front of the building’s entrance. “We lost all of our backpacks full of school supplies – tablets, everything. All of my keys melted.”

But support is already filtering in. After speaking about the devastating blaze, Zamora was approached by a man who pulled up in a black BMW sedan. He was Mike Prieto of Consumer Portfolio Services Inc., which provides indirect automobile financing to those with bad credit, low incomes or limited credit histories.

Prieto walked over to Zamora, introduced himself and handed her a stack of crisp $100 bills held together in a paper clip.

“It’s $2,000, from my employees, because we wanted to do something,” he said. “We tried to reach you on the phone, but couldn’t, so I just came down.”

Zamora wiped away tears, saying, “Thank you so much. I can’t stop crying.”

Zamora encouraged anyone else interested in donating money or replenishing the organization’s backpacks to go to the GoFundMe page the charity created or donate through its website, www.peoplesautism.org. As of 9:30 p.m., the charity had raised another $3,000 through the two outlets.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and county fire said a damage estimate is still being calculated.

Review-Journal reporters John Katsilometes and Christian Bertolaccini contributed to this story. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find @rachelacrosby on Twitter.

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