Residents scramble to find shelter after Las Vegas apartment fire

The fire at the Rancho Verde Apartments, 98 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., broke out around 6:15 p.m. It was confined to one unit, but the Las Vegas Fire Department said power to all 16 units had to be turned off as a safety precaution pending reinspection of electrical equipment.

No one was injured, and damage was estimated at about $75,000.

The power remained off at the complex near Bonanza Road for much of the day Friday, affecting about 75 people. Jennifer Schurict, communications manager for NV Energy, said power was restored by 3:30 p.m. Friday.

“We were blessed nobody got hurt,” said resident Jared Weldon. “So now we have to go through the inconvenience of not having a home.”

Weldon said his family was having guests over for the holidays Thursday night when firefighters knocked on his door.

“They said we’ve got to evacuate, so I had to evacuate my immediate family and the family visiting, about nine or 10 of us,” Weldon said.

Weldon’s family spent Thursday night at a hotel. By Friday his options for housing were limited. He said he planned to seek assistance from the American Red Cross for housing Friday night.

“They can’t put the electric back on until they see that it is safe, which I don’t want to be in a place that isn’t safe,” Weldon said.

The Red Cross’ Southern Nevada chapter was providing vouchers to families needing help, said spokeswoman Jennifer Sparks.

“We were on the scene Thursday night checking to make sure everyone had a place to stay,” Sparks said. “A majority of people had a place they said that they could go to. … We have been out responding again today.”

Management of the apartment complex said it is working with authorities to get power restored as quickly as possible.

“… We are waiting on the inspector to come out and inspect the uninspected apartments to verify the wiring is OK, everything is good and we can get the power back on,” said Suzanne Reinke, regional vice president of operations for Sunrise Management. “Then we can take it to the city to get the expedited permits to get the authorization to get the power back on.”

Reinke said she did not know how long the process would take.

“We are trying to work with different residents as they come in,” she said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.