2 Las Vegas fires displace 23 people from their homes

Two fires in the Las Vegas Valley displaced a total of 23 people from their homes on Tuesday.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Billy Samuels said the first fire broke out at 5:20 a.m. at a fourplex at 4550 Koval Lane near East Harmon Avenue. Firefighters arrived and found fire coming from a second-floor apartment.

Firefighters extinguished the flames, with some going to the roof to cut a hole leading into the attic. No one was injured.

Samuels said four apartments were damaged. The Fire Department initially said 18 people were displaced by the blaze, but the American Red Cross of Southern Nevada later said in a news release that it was assisting 20 people who lived at the apartments.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“The Red Cross will continue working with these families over the coming days and weeks to connect them with community resources,” said Rachel Flanigan, executive director of the Southern Nevada chapter.

The second fire was reported at 8:01 a.m. at a home in the 1300 block of Cherokee Lane, near Vegas and Rancho drives. Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said a family that has lived in the home for 40-plus years reported that a blaze in the backyard quickly spread to their home as heavy winds blew the flames upward.

“We received multiple calls that a house was on fire,” Szymanski said. “Winds probably pushed it up into the attic, and it took us about 10 minutes to bring it under control.”

Three occupants of the home were displaced. They, too, were being assisted by the Red Cross. No one was injured.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.