WASHINGTON — A fire at an apartment complex in Las Vegas has killed six people and injured 13 others.
The Las Vegas fire department says between 30 and 35 people have been displaced after the fire on Saturday at the Alpine Motel Apartments in the Nevada city's downtown.
Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski told reporters at a press conference that the 911 calls had started coming in shortly after 4 a.m. He said residents were jumping out of the older three-story building to escape the heavy smoke and that firefighters found several people hanging from windows when they arrived.
The fire started in a first floor apartment near a stove possibly being used for warmth, Szymanski said, but an investigation will be conducted to confirm the cause. It appears to be an accident, as many of those displaced told investigators that they had been using their stoves because the building did not have heat.
Firefighters found one person dead on a sidewalk about a block from the building who was apparently "overcome" while trying to escape.
"This is the worst fire fatality that we've had in the city of Las Vegas since the inception of the fire department." Szymanski said, adding that the most deaths the department has had in one incident is three.
KTNV reports it may be the deadliest fire in the history of Las Vegas and Clark County, aside from the MGM Grand fire in 1980 that killed 80 people.
Szymanski said his counterparts with the county could not remember another incident with this many deaths other than the MGM.
