UPDATE JAN. 4: 32-year-old Amanda Geng succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The fire has been determined as accidental.
It is believed that people who were squatting in the building had built a fire to keep warm.
ORIGINAL STORY
A man is dead and five people were hurt after a fire in North Las Vegas Tuesday morning.
According to the North Las Vegas Fire Department, the fire occurred in a vacant building near North Las Vegas Boulevard and Bruce Street.
One man has died in the fire. Several others hurt. What you're looking at here should have been empty according to @NLVFirePIO. @KTNV pic.twitter.com/wNKu4RHA80
— Parker Collins (@parkercollinstv) January 2, 2018
BREAKING: One man dead, woman seriously injured in fire at vacant apartments near Las Vegas Blvd and Lake Mead. I'll be live on @KTNV with details in 30 mins pic.twitter.com/2pF3h48eJb
— David Schuman (@david_schuman) January 2, 2018
Las Vegas Fire & Rescue assisted the North Las Vegas Fire Department.
North Las Vegas Assistant Fire Chief Travis Anderson says crews used a ladder to rescue two occupants in the apartments at the back of the building.
Anderson says five were injured in addition to the man who died. Three were taken to the hospital, including a woman in critical condition.
Kenisha Norwood watched the smoke billow to the sky with her two children at a nearby bus stop.
"It's not the way you want to start the new year in Vegas," she said. "It's scary. It just lets you know that something needs to be done."
Anderson says the neighborhood is a busy neighborhood for the department.
"We have a lot of fires down here," he said. "It's an older area so the building codes back then were a little different."
The assistant chief told 13 Action News the fire started when people inside were burning something in a pan to keep warm.
