A 28-year-old Las Vegas man who was using gasoline to clean the rear yard of a West Charleston condominium two weekends ago, died today at the UMC Burn Unit of injuries he suffered when the gasoline ignited.
The incident was ruled accidental by Las Vegas fire investigators.
Firefighters responded to the Stone Canyon Condo complex in the 8000 block of West Charleston Blvd at 6:04 p.m. on Sunday, October 5. When firefighters arrived, they found the man in the front yard of the condo with severe burns over 60% of his upper body. He was quickly loaded into an ambulance and taken to the UMC Burn Unit in critical condition.
Fire investigators determined the man was clearing the small rear yard of the condo of vines and bushes and used gasoline to pour over the plants, with the intention that the gasoline would kill the plants. As he entered the condo through a patio glass door, the entire backyard flashed, igniting the man's clothing. He ran through the house into the living room, igniting furniture along the way. While in the living room, he dropped to the floor and rolled around to smother the flames. After that, he ran out the front door where he was met by neighbors who poured water on him from a garden hose and a pitcher.
At that point, firefighters arrived and quickly took him to the hospital.
The fire caused $3,000 damage to the condo, mostly furniture. No one else was injured during the incident.
This is the first death associated with gasoline being used as a cleaning agent, but not the first incident. Within recent weeks, two other serious fires occurred in the Valley because of people using gasoline as a cleaning agent. In one case a house was completely destroyed and in the other case a man suffered serious injuries.
This is the fifth fire fatality in the city for 2003.
TIMOTHY R. SZYMANSKI
FIRE-PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
