Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Boy found dead in Las Vegas house fire is identified

House Fire

Brian Nordli

Fire crews arrived about 4:25 p.m. to a fire at a home in the 2300 block of Howard Drive, near Eastern Avenue and Oakey Boulevard.

Click to enlarge photo

Fire crews arrived about 4:25 p.m. to a fire at a home in the 2300 block of Howard Drive, near Eastern Avenue and Oakey Boulevard.

Fatal fire

The boy killed in a vacant house fire Thursday afternoon has been identified as 7-year-old Jacob West of Las Vegas, according to the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

West and his brother had been lighting fireworks and setting items on fire inside an unlocked vacant home in the 2300 block of Howard Lane with two other boys when the flames got out of control. The children attempted to douse the fire with an unknown liquid, but it caused the fire to spread faster, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

One brother escaped with burns on his arms and legs, but West was trapped inside, Szymanski said. Firefighters found him dead on the floor of the home’s workshop room attached to the carport.

The surviving brother was transported to University Medical Center Trauma with burns on his legs and arms. The two other boys escaped unharmed.

Fire investigators ruled the fire’s cause was accidental, and Metro Police has decided not to file any neglect or other charges against the parents of the two brothers involved in the fire.

The fire caused about $75,000 in damage to the vacant home, and is the fourth fire fatality in Las Vegas, Szymanski said.

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