A deadly apartment fire ripped through the central valley Tuesday morning. One person is dead, another unaccounted for and more than a dozen are left homeless, according to Las Vegas Fire and Rescue.
Seven people were hospitalized including a firefighter. One of them is Amanda Ignacio.
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“When I opened my room door, I saw smoke so the only thing I could think about is jumping out of the window,” Ignacio said.
Ignacio broke her left leg while jumping out to escape the fire and is currently hospitalized awaiting surgery.
She said she was only able to grab her phone leaving the fire.
“I lost all my documents,” she said. “My birth certificate, social security card, my wallet, all of that.”
According to the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, this is the third fire within a 12 month period at the same apartment complex. The first occurred November 2022 and the second on April 2023.
Those living in the complex told Channel 13 they are concerned. Tiffani Baker has been living at the complex for more than four years. She just invested in renter’s insurance after Tuesday morning’s fire.
“If three buildings caught fire in the last three years who’s to say mine’s not going to catch fire,” Baker said. “It’s people lives, homes, stuff, so it’s scary.”
Scott Root, owner of MC Plumbing, was contracted to fix the plumbing at the complex. He said the building is older.
“Sometimes the codes get grandfathered in so they’re not updated,” Root said. “And if that’s the situation, that could be a safety problem.”
Red Cross said 18 people lost their homes from the fire. Some were relocated to empty units within the same complex.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
