5 displaced after downtown Las Vegas fire spreads to 2nd home

Five people were displaced after a fire at one home spread to a second early Sunday morning in downtown Las Vegas, and a resident was rescued after being trapped by flames in his backyard.

Crews were called just before 1 a.m. to the 700 block of North 23rd Street, according to a Las Vegas Fire Department news release. The caller said it was his house, there was heavy fire and he was stuck in the backyard unable to get to the front because of its intensity, the release said.

When firefighters arrived, heavy fire was showing from the front and left side of a one-story house; a car in the driveway was also burning. The fire extended to a tree in the backyard and was spreading to the house next door.

The caller was rescued as crews battled the initial fire. He was unhurt. The occupants of the second home were told to evacuate.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to put the fire out.

Damage was estimated at $150,000 to the first home and $35,000 to the second.

The cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation. Investigators said fireworks cannot be ruled out; there was fireworks activity while firefighters worked to put the fire out, and neighbors said there were several fireworks in the neighborhood just before the fire, the release said.

Contact Tony Garcia at tgarcia@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307. Follow @TonyGLVNews on Twitter.