LATEST UPDATE: 61-year-old Shirlena Rutherford has been arrested and charged with one count of first degree arson. One person was injured and 40 people displaced by the fire.
UPDATE: An arrest has been made in this fire. One suspect has been charged with arson.
ORIGINAL STORY:
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- Several people have been displaced because of a fire at the Cornerstone Corner Apartments early Friday morning.
Fire dispatchers received several calls at 4:02 a.m. that an apartment in the complex at 6666 West Washington Avenue at Rainbow was on fire.
Another caller mentioned that a domestic fight might have taken place in the same apartment where the fire was occurring. Police were also notified.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, heavy flames were showing from a downstairs apartment.
Because of the intensity of the fire and the fact it was the middle of the night when people are most likely asleep, a second alarm was requested to assist at the fire.
That brought a total of 27 fire units with 72 firefighters to the scene.
The building involved is a sixteen unit two story wood frame apartment building. The building is divided into two sections by a fire wall in the middle.
The fire appeared to have started in a downstairs unit and worked its way into the apartment above and then into the attic. Not long after firefighters arrived, flames broke through the roof on one side of the building.
It took firefighters nearly an hour to bring the blaze under control. The first concern was the fire would spread to other buildings in the complex. Firefighters surrounded the involved roof and kept it to one-half of the total building.
Three apartments and the attic were gutted by the fire. The other five units in that half of the building had heat, smoke, and water damage.
A damage estimate is not immediately available.
Over 40 people were evacuated from the building by several Metro Police officers and firefighters who arrived on scene.
The American Red Cross is assisting those who cannot return to their apartments.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Fire investigators determined where the fire started but are still working on the cause.
One man was taken to the hospital for a fracture and a small burn to the hand.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. None of the first responders at the incident were injured.
