Las Vegas celebrates July 4th with fireworks, parties amid pandemic
Las Vegas Fire Department firefighters were called to at least four fires on the Fourth of July on Saturday night.
The Fire Department responded to a palm tree on fire that spread to a vehicle on West Parsifal Place. Firefighters were called at 10:08 p.m. to where the tree was burning in front of a home.
There was some minor exposure damage to the house, but firefighters were able to extinguish the fire before it reached the building, according to a statement from Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski.
No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was unclear.
Pomerado Drive
Firefighters responded to Pomerado Drive, near North Buffalo Drive and West Lake Mead Boulevard, at 9:40 p.m. where an attic fire had filled a two-story house with smoke, according to a statement from the department.
No injuries were reported, fire officials said.
It was unclear what caused the fire.
Piccolo Way
No one was home when the roof two-story house on Piccolo Way, near West Oakey Boulevard and South Jones Boulevard, caught fire at 8:57 p.m., according to the Las Vegas Fire Department.
Firefighters believe the blaze may have been fireworks-related.
Red Badge Avenue
Heavy fire and smoke was bellowing from the garage of a house on the west edge of northwest Las Vegas when firefighters arrived just after 11 p.m.
No injuries were reported and the interior of the house house, on Red Badge Avenue, suffered no fire damage.
#timelapse of #Fireworks over North Las Vegas and East Las Vegas Valley. pic.twitter.com/IJ3QFo7sVJ
— Kevin M. Cannon (@kmcannonphoto) July 5, 2020
Fireworks at Red Rock Resort
At 9 p.m., Station Casinos launched fireworks from Red Rock Resort. The 10-minute show included a tribute to front-line responders. Earlier in the day, the company announced that Richard Haskins, president of Red Rock Resorts Inc. and Station Casinos, died Saturday in a watercraft accident while on vacation in Michigan.
Busy night for first responders
North Las Vegas Police Department spokesman Alexander Cuevas said this year’s holiday was “absolutely busier” than last year for the department, adding that the coronavirus likely led to more at-home fireworks usage.
“We’re inundated with phone calls for fireworks and fires,” Cuevas said Saturday night. “We’re getting so much in and trying to respond as fast as possible.”
Between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Las Vegas police had received 108 calls for illegal fireworks.
Clark County overall had received nearly 9,000 firework complaints as of Thursday, a county spokeswoman said.
8,901 illegal fireworks complaints were reported to the county’s ISpyFireworks.com website compared with last year’s 1,695.
Just prior to the county’s announcement, a truck was destroyed after fireworks in the back caught fire Thursday morning, leaving one person needing treatment for smoke inhalation.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter. Review-Journal intern Amanda Bradford contributed to this report.
