Man died in closet in fire at boarded-up North Las Vegas home

The body of a 47-year-old man found Friday night after an abandoned North Las Vegas house went up in flames was located inside a bedroom closet, the Clark County coroner’s office revealed Monday.

Luciano Hernandez Machuca’s body was found after city firefighters worked for roughly an hour to extinguish the blaze on the 3100 block of Carroll Street, near East Cheyenne Avenue and Civic Center Drive, according to North Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Nino Galloway.

Assistance from North Las Vegas police was requested Friday night, which is typical for fatal fires, but the fire appears to have been accidental, Galloway said Monday afternoon.

Machuca’s cause and manner of death was still pending Monday with the coroner’s office.

It wasn’t immediately clear why Machuca was inside the one-story house, which had been boarded up after a previous fire.

Clark County property records show that the house is owned by Aurelio and Eduarda Machuca. It was built in 1963.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.