Two people were displaced after their northwest Las Vegas mobile home caught fire Monday morning.
One person was in the home when it caught fire, and a smoke alarm woke her in time to escape. She has been asleep in the bedroom and saw the curtains and bed on fire. She and her two pet dogs and one pet cat then left the home. The woman's husband was at work during the fire.
The woman called fire dispatchers at 7:06 a.m. to tell them her bedroom was on fire in her home at 6533 Delphinium Ave. (Alexander Road/Rainbow Boulevard). As she was talking to fire dispatchers, she tried taking a garden hose into the home to put water on the fire, but dispatchers told her to leave the scene and wait for firefighters in the street.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, the double-wide mobile home was fully involved and firefighters had to make sure it would not spread to other homes close by. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to bring the intense fire under control. Smoke from the fire could be seen from across the valley.
The woman was treated for minor smoke inhalation by fire paramedics.
The fire completely gutted the home and damage is estimated at $35,000.
Fire investigators ruled the fire accidental. The woman told fire investigators that she was smoking a cigarette and must have fallen asleep while in bed.
The American Red Cross is assisting the two occupants of the home.
Careless smoking is the leading cause of fatal fires both in Las Vegas and across the rest of the country, especially between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Sixty percent of the people who have died in Las Vegas fires in the past 15 years have been smoking related.
