Fire damages senior apartment complex

Fire damaged an apartment complex for seniors in east Las Vegas early Thursday.

Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said at 3:25 a.m. the fire broke out on a second-floor balcony at the Arthur McCants Manor in the 800 block of Eastern Avenue, near Bonanza Road.

“The fire lapped up to the third floor,” Szymanski said. “Second and third floors were evacuated and the residents who were evacuated were put on a bus.”

Szymanski said the fire was quickly extinguished. It is believed that the fire was started by someone improperly discarding smoking materials.

The fire was described as a three-alarm fire by the department, but was more in line with a single-alarm blaze, Szymanski said, with extra firefighters were called to the scene to help move seniors out of the building. Most occupants were returning to their apartments by 6:30 a.m. but a handful were displaced. The American Red Cross was on scene to assist.

“We just took the precaution because there are a lot of elderly people,” Szymanski said.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.