Las Vegas fire investigators have ruled a fire that damaged a downtown Las Vegas apartment Wednesday night as accidental. Three people were displaced because of the fire. There were no injuries.
Firefighters responded to the Veras Apartments, 401 North 7th Street at 7:17PM Wednesday night. On arrival, flames were showing from an upstairs apartment of the 2-story wood frame/stucco apartment building. Firefighters had the fire out within a few minutes. The small apartment building was briefly evacuated until the fire was put out.
Fire investigators determined the fire started on an electric stove in the kitchen. It appears a pan containing cooking grease caught fire and extended to some wood cabinets above the stove. The control switch to one of the electric eyes on the stove was found in the on position.
The fire gutted the kitchen. The rest of the apartment had minor smoke damage. The apartment directly below had slight water damage. Damage was estimated at $15,000.
Several neighbors used fire extinguishers to put the fire out, but it was too large. The only occupant of the apartment had left the apartment to visit a neighbor for only a few minutes. He told investigators he was not cooking at the time and could not understand how the fire would have started.
No one was injured during the incident.
