‘It’s just been a mess’: Displaced Tides tenants feel forgotten after fire
Jeremy Williams thought he was dreaming when he woke up to screams on a Tuesday morning in early June.
Ever since he looked out his window to see flames engulfing the adjacent building in his west Las Vegas apartment complex, he’s been living a nightmare.
The June 6 fire destroyed a building at the Tides on Charleston complex at West Charleston Boulevard and South Torrey Pines Drive and damaged two others. Six residents and one firefighter were injured, 18 people were displaced and 26-year-old David Phlong was found dead in his apartment.
One other person was reported missing at the time of the fire, according to the Las Vegas Fire Department.
Jordan Moore, a fire department spokesperson, said Thursday that the cause of the fire remained under investigation and could not provide an update on the status of the missing person.
Flames from building 18 ended up damaging Williams’ building after a tree became engulfed and its branches touched his roof. Since the fire, Williams has been unable to go back and retrieve his belongings because of the ongoing investigation.
In a written message to Tides residents dated June 20, exactly two weeks after the fire, FPI Management, Inc. announced it was taking over management of the complex. The company is based out of Folsom, California.
FPI Management and the property owners, Tides Equities, could not be reached for comment.
‘Do the right thing’
Williams now stays at a friend’s northwest Las Vegas apartment. His other option is sleeping in his truck, which he has done periodically since the fire so as not to overstay his welcome with his friend.
The Red Cross gave Williams a $640 debit card the day of the fire, enough to pay for lodging at a hotel for a few days.
In the days after the fire, Williams was assured by management that he would get help with being relocated. However, when management changed on June 20, Williams was told he was on his own.
“If it was up to me, I just want them to do the right thing,” he said.
An employee working Wednesday afternoon in the leasing office at Tides referred questions to her supervisors.
‘It’s just been a mess’
Around 5 a.m. the morning of the fire, Nicole Williams and her 4-year-old son Karter were awoken by Nicole’s partner Justin Phillips, who told them their building was on fire.
She, her son and Phillips had to jump out of their bedroom window to escape their first-floor unit and were not able to take anything with them. The family’s cat and two pet turtles died in the fire.
Williams was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and still suffers from shortness of breath and uses an inhaler. A few days later, she learned that she sprained her knee and may have torn ligaments.
In the last few years living at Tides, her apartment had problems with water damage, electricity and unreliable air conditioning. On one occasion she had to live in a hotel for about a week due to broken air conditioning.
Las Vegas Review-Journal records show the complex has seen fires in 2020 and 2022.
“It’s just been a mess,” Williams said.
The family was placed in an apartment on the Torrey Pines side of the Tides complex. The “new” apartment has been a series of headaches. When they first moved in a window was broken, the air conditioning was not working and an electrical issue that threatened to cause a fire required their power to be turned off for two nights.
While most issues have been fixed, Phillips demonstrated Wednesday during a walk-through of the unit that the front door is difficult to lock and leaves a space between the door and frame when it’s closed.
Karter asks his mom about what happened to his toys and has nightmares about the fire. He doesn’t want to walk with his mom to the leasing office because it means passing their burned out unit.
“I just don’t understand why they’re not helping us,” Williams said.
Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.
