LAS VEGAS — A massive fire in the southwest valley whose plume of smoke could be seen across Las Vegas was burning Tuesday afternoon.
The fire is at 8030 W. Maule Ave., near South Buffalo Drive and the 215 Beltway, Clark County Fire Department Kelly Blackmon said in a statement.
Fire crews began responding after calls started coming in at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday about a building under construction that was fully ablaze.
Julia Maranville, 25, said that when firefighters started spraying their hoses on the blaze, fiery embers and debris began raining down on her apartment complex on the other side of the Beltway, igniting fires in the grass and dumpsters.
“I see could see the walls of the building falling to the ground as the fire was burning,” Maranville said.
Even though she lives on the other side of the highway, she said she could feel the heat from the fire.
“It was so hot,” Maranville said. “It was extremely hot.”
“It was a blazing inferno,” said Shannon Leyden, 28, who also lives across the highway from the fire. “I’ve never seen huge flames like that.”
Drivers were being told to expect delays in the area of the fire.
A tweet from the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada said the three right lanes of the southbound 215 were blocked as of 5:41 p.m. because of heavy smoke from the fire.
As well, a second alarm had been called, which means additional fire crews and vehicles were responding.
Clark County Assistant Fire Chief Brian O’Neal said the department initially responded to the fire with 75 fire personnel and 11 fire engines.
He said the building was still unstable as of around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, and that the building was considered a total loss. Fire investigators were investigating the cause of the blaze as of Tuesday night.
O’Neal said none of the surrounding buildings were exposed to the point of evacuation and surrounding buildings were protected from lasting damage from the fire.
“I believe that the initial defensive strategy was able to protect those buildings,” O’Neal said.
Though O’Neal said the surrounding buildings did not require evacuation, Erin McClendon said her apartment building across the street from the burning site sent a message calling for tenants to leave.
“Our apartment complex sent a notification telling everybody to urgently leave their units safely,” McClendon said as she and her two sons stood down the street from the fire. “We watched that building get burned completely down.”
McClendon was driving home with her two sons, 15-year-old Laurence Andrews and 9-year-old Landen Edwards, when she noticed the plume of smoke.
As the fire progressed, McClendon and her boys left their apartment and walked down the road to the intersection of Cimarron Road and Maule Avenue to watch the flames.
First off, I was feeling really scared. Because it’s just, look at that! The fire was so big,” Edwards said, gesturing to the burning building.
After watching the fire department’s response, McClendon commended the work of the firefighters in putting out the blaze.
“I really feel safe with them in our community. They did such a good job,” McClendon said.
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