Condo complex burns
Thursday’s high temperature of 99 degrees inspired Jerry Rodriguez to make an end-of-the-day stop at an ice cream shop at Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Maryland Parkway.
At the same time things were about to get a lot hotter across the street.
Flames erupted on the west side of a multimillion-dollar condominium construction site and spread east quickly until it engulfed the entire site, Clark County fire officials said.
When he went into the shop to grab a cup of pistachio nut ice cream, Rodriguez said, there was nothing going on outside.
"I came out," he said, "and it’s the ‘Towering Inferno.’ "
The flames reached more than five stories into the sky and could be seen as far away as McCarran International Airport. The thick plumes of black smoke could be seen around the valley.
"This thing went up so fast," Clark County Assistant Fire Chief Fernandez Leary said.
Luckily, the wind buffeted the fire east across the property, away from a street of homes. Along the way, the flames fed off the unfinished wood frames of Murano condo complex at 1130 Silverado Ranch.
The first call for firefighters was at 6:11 p.m. One firefighter suffered burns on his arm during the initial offensive attack, Leary said. He was rushed to the burn center at University Medical Center, but his injuries were not life-threatening, Leary said.
None of the condos was known to have been occupied at the time of the fire, Leary said. There were no other reports of injuries late Thursday.
But the property damage was immense. Three alarms were called, and more than 60 firefighters from Clark County and Henderson fought the flames.
"We could not get enough units here fast enough" to keep it from spreading, Leary said. Firefighters had to revert to a defensive attack, a "surround and drown" tactic intended to try to keep it from spreading to neighboring properties.
Flames bent over a wall onto a CVS drug store at the corner of Maryland and Silverado Ranch, causing the sidings and signs on the building to drip down like wax on a candle. The building suffered exterior damage but was saved.
But most of the Murano at Silverado Ranch condo complex burned to the ground. A dollar estimate for the damage was not available late Thursday. A Web site advertised that prices started at $200,000 for a condo at the complex. There were about 150 condos planned for the site, some of which were three-stories.
When the fire was contained about 8 p.m., five streams of water were still being pumped onto the rubble. Leary expected firefighters to be out at the scene well into the night putting out any hot spots.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting Clark County fire investigators in trying to determine the cause of the fire, which could take weeks, Leary said.
Review-Journal photographer John Gurzinski contributed to this report.
