No one was injured when a townhouse caught fire late Tuesday evening on the city???s northwest side. Fire investigators believe the fire was accidental. The American Red Cross is assisting three adults and two children that lived in the townhouse.
Fire dispatchers received a number of calls at 9:26 p.m. that a unit at the Torrey Pines Village townhouses at the intersection of Smoke Ranch Rd. and Torrey Pines Dr. was on fire. When firefighters arrived a few minutes later, a unit at 2213 Short Pine Dr was on fire in the garage area. The building is a 2-story wood frame/stucco building with seven privately owned townhouses. Because of the intensity of the fire, a second alarm was dispatched to the incident.
Within 15 minutes firefighters were able to control the fire and contain it to the one townhouse. The unit was gutted on both floors. Damage was estimated at $175,000.
Officially fire investigators have ruled the fire undetermined, they believe it was accidental. They could not rule out the possibility of careless smoking.
The occupants of the townhouse were all upstairs getting ready to go to bed when all the smoke alarms activated. They said there was no evidence of smoke upstairs. When they went downstairs, the first floor began to fill with smoke from the garage. They escaped through the front door without injury. They told investigators they believe the smoke alarms saved their lives because they were warned so quickly and were able to escape without injury.
The family received assistance from the American Red Cross and Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Foundation.
1st Alarm: E43,42,44, T6, R43, HR44, WT43, AR1, B4, PIO1, 6i4, 6i7, 6i9
2nd Alarm: E6,9,203,41, T9, R42, B10, 108,109
