Pair save woman trapped by apartment fire

Two maintenance workers are credited with pulling a woman out of a burning apartment building Tuesday morning.

The Clark County Fire Department was alerted to the blaze about 11:43 a.m. at the Chalet Vegas Apartments, 4600 Swenson St., near Tropicana Avenue.

County officials said a 47-year-old woman was cooking french fries on her stove when the oil caught fire in her second-story apartment.

The woman became trapped inside the apartment because the apartment had metal security bars on the front door and window. The woman wasn’t able to find her keys to let herself out. The front door required keys for the inside and outside of the door.

The woman yelled for help and two apartment maintenance workers, Frank “Buddy” Cabagason, 46, and Gary Harris, 40, rescued her by bending a window’s metal security bars and pulling her out.

After the woman was pulled out, Cabagason and Harris used a dry chemical extinguisher to try to extinguish the fire, county officials said. However, firefighters arrived and put out the fire.

According to the county, damage was estimated at $5,000. The fire was deemed an accident.