What caused the large strip mall fire near UNLV?
A large fire that broke out across from UNLV’s campus in July was caused by an accident, but its origin remained undetermined, officials said Thursday.
The July 25 fire at the University Gardens Shopping Center, at 4632 S. Maryland Pkwy., likely started in first-floor units of the commercial strip mall, Clark County public information officer Christine Crews said in an email Thursday.
However, due to the extensive damage caused by the blaze, Clark County Fire Department investigators have been unable to determine a cause or a point of origin, Crews said.
The blaze was first reported around 8:10 a.m. and destroyed a post office and other businesses in the area, the Las Vegas Review-Journal previously reported.
Neither Crews in her statement Thursday or investigators at the time of the blaze provided an estimate of the monetary damages caused by the fire. Many tenants at the strip mall reported sustaining heavy losses, business owners told the Review-Journal the day of the blaze.
The blaze had prompted the response of about 120 firefighters, along with 30 to 40 Metropolitan Police Department officers, though no injuries were reported among bystanders or responders. The Review-Journal also previously reported that the owner of the shopping center plans to demolish the two-story portion of the building, which was not outfitted with sprinklers due to its age.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky.
