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Veterans Village fire causes $80,000 in damage

Updated July 21, 2017 - 8:25 pm

An underground fire resulting from an electrical pole fire caused $80,000 in damages at Veterans Village on Sunday, according to Arnold Stalk, founder of the housing complex.

About 8:30 a.m., the Las Vegas Fire Department responded to reports of an underground electrical fire behind Veterans Village at 1150 Las Vegas Blvd. South., near Charleston Boulevard.

The fire started on an electrical pole off the property, traveled to the main power box in Veterans Village and blew it out, Stalk said. The fire then made its way underground.

“It got into the underground and started blowing out wires,” he said. “I don’t know how it did that.”

Firefighters arrived within five minutes of the fire.

The wires that provided power to the complex were damaged to the point where power could not be restored until they were completely repaired, the department said.

The Wynn and Bombard Electric donated labor and material for the damaged power box. They also offered to conduct an analysis for the rest of the complex’s electrical system, which hasn’t been replaced since it was built in 1959, Stalk said.

No residents were displaced or injured during the fire. However, all of the tenants, many of whom are elderly or disabled, on the side of the underground fire were directed to the common area where three nurses from the American Red Cross aided those in need, he said.

The American Red Cross was ready to temporarily relocate about 60 tenants to Fremont Middle School, until a mobile generator brought to the complex restored power, the department said. All of the tenants are back in their homes.

Veterans Village, a transitional and permanent housing residence for U.S. veterans, offers a 24/7 crisis intervention center, medical and mental health services, job referral and training, and other services promoting independent living through economic and social self-sufficiency, a press release said.

Contact Isabelle Delgado at idelgado@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @izzydd_ on Twitter.

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