What will probably be considered to be one of Las Vegas' most tragic accidents, occurred this morning on the city's Northwest side. A father, mother and a daughter along with six family pets died sometime Wednesday night or very early Thursday morning from apparently from carbon monoxide poisoning. Both Las Vegas Fire & Rescue and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police have ruled the incident a tragic accident.
Firefighters and Metro Police responded to 8809 Spinning Wheel Avenue (Horse/El Capitan) at 8:55 AM Thursday morning on a "welfare check". A welfare check is done when emergency 9-1-1 dispatchers receive information that someone or a family may have not be heard from for a certain amount of time. A family member called dispatchers and said something was wrong when the family did not respond to calls and the man who lives at the house did not report to work. When firefighters and police arrived, they found the house locked. They forced entry into the house through the front door and immediately found a dog unresponsive at the front door. Just inside the living room a woman and a teenage girl were found on a sofa unresponsive.
Upstairs in a master bedroom, an adult male was found unresponsive.
Firefighters and police at various locations throughout the house also found three dogs, two cats and a chinchilla, all unresponsive.
Responders also found a large portable gasoline electric generator in the garage with a long extension cord connected to a TV in the living room. Upon investigation it was learned the electricity to the house was disconnected yesterday afternoon, so it appears the generator was being used to supply power to the TV.
The gasoline generator is believe to responsible for producing carbon monoxide gas, a tasteless, odorless, invisible gas that is lethal and explosive. Investigators believe the generator continued to run for several hours and produce the gas, which evidentially filled the house to lethal levels. Since houses in the Valley are constructed with excellent insulation, the house was not able to expel the deadly gas. As time went on, the gas accumulated to a level, which became lethal for everyone inside.
There were no carbon monoxide detectors in the home. The home was equipped with ionization smoke alarms according to code, but they are not designed to alert in the case of carbon monoxide.
The exact cause of death will be determined by the Clark County Coroner's Office. Several relatives of the family showed up later in the morning and were extremely distraught over the incident. A representative of the Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) was on scene to work with family members.
NOTE: Identification of the victims will be releases by the Clark County Corner's Office.
