A well-known West Las Vegas bar-be-cue restaurant was destroyed by a 3-Alarm fire early Thursday morning. One other business was also destroyed and two other suffered moderate damage in the small shopping center at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Martin L. King Boulevard. There were no injuries in connection with the incident.
Firefighters were dispatched to the Heritage Square Shopping Center (900 Martin L. King Blvd) at 5:25 AM, Thursday. It only took four minutes for crews from Fire Station 3 to arrive from down the street and find flames shooting 40-60 feet into the air from the 1-story concrete block building. The small shopping center contains four businesses: H&H Bar-be-cue, 1st Lady Boutique, Shoe Nigel and J&D Market.
When firefighters arrived, they immediately called for a second alarm at 5:31 AM and at 5:57 AM the third alarm was dispatched which brought a total of 20 units with 75 firefighters to the scene. By 6:30 AM, the fire was under control.
Firefighters were able to stop the fire in the middle of the building. Both the bar-be-cue shop and the boutique were completely destroyed. The other two shops had moderate smoke and heat damage. City building inspectors could not rule out the possibility of structural damage throughout the building since fire spread across a common attic. A more intense inspection will need to be made before any of the businesses will be permitted to reopen. Damage was estimated at $250,000.
The cause of the fire is undetermined, under investigation. The exact point of origin has not yet been determined.
There were no injuries in connection with the incident.
1ST Alarm: E3,203, 201, T3, R3, HR44, AR1, B1 2nd Alarm: E1,10,210, T1, R301, EMS1, B10, PIO, 6i2,6i7 3rd Alarm: E4,8,53, T4, R301, B4, 105, 108, 109, 801, 810
