HENDERSON, NV (FOX5) -
Several people are homeless following a massive condo fire Monday afternoon in Henderson. High temperatures and fierce winds hindered the firefighters' battle.
The two-alarm blaze broke out at the Mission Ridge complex before 4:30 p.m. on Carnegie Street near Horizon Ridge Parkway. The high winds fueled flames and some residents lost everything they had.
"I'm just crushed, man. That was a lot of pictures and stuff (belonging to) my daughter. That's going to be rough," said resident Tylan Crittenden.
Investigators believe the fire started in an upstairs corner unit and spread to the building's attic. It took both Henderson and Clark County firefighters to battle the blaze.
"I've never seen a fire burn as hot as it did, as long as it did as this one here," said another resident, Chris Collins.
"With the wind conditions and the heat conditions, they were unable to make a stop in the attic, so we went through to a defensive position and that's what you see now – the result of that," said Matthew Morris with Henderson Fire.
"It traveled into my daughter's room and I know her room is just gone," Crittenden said. "My whole place is soaked with water, if there's anything left of it."
Crittenden's 4-year-old left with her mother less than an hour before the blaze broke out.
"I was supposed to keep her for another day and I didn't," he said. "I'm glad I didn't for her to see her stuff. A lot of memories just gone."
Although every resident got out alive, one suffered smoke inhalation.
Henderson Fire Department officials estimated the fire caused $760,000 in damages.
Their preliminary investigation shows the cause of the fire was accidental, and may have been from careless discard of smoking materials.
The Red Cross is helping the people who lost their homes in the fire.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
Courtesy of Chris Collins
Courtesy of Chris Collins
