Two fires force evacuation at Texas Station hotel

Fire crews across the valley were busy responding to various blazes on Saturday.

The Las Vegas Fire Department responded to two unrelated Saturday night fires.

A column of thick black smoke could be seen by firefighters as they responded to a house fire in Northwest Las Vegas at 6:27 p.m. Saturday.

Flames completely engulfed the garage of the house in the 4500 block of Gonzales Drive, off Jones Boulevard and Craig Road. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control within a few minutes, and keep it from spreading into the rest of the house.

Fire investigators believe that the fire was started by an overheated car left in the garage. It destroyed the car, a camping unit, three Jet Skis and the garage. Damaged was estimated at $100,000.

The second fire occurred Saturday at 11:55 p.m. in the Vega Villata Apartments at 434 S. 13th St. It heavily damaged two apartment units leaving three people homeless, and causing an estimated $75,000 in damage.

The occupant of a downstairs apartment told investigators that she had heard a muffled explosion in her living room by the television, and then the apartment started to fill with smoke.

Fire investigators ruled the fire accidental, and managed to hold damages to the downstairs apartment and the apartment directly upstairs.

The North Las Vegas Fire Department responded to two calls Saturday at the Texas Station hotel-casino while hundreds of firefighters participated in the Firefighter Combat Challenge in the property's parking lot.

At 11 a.m. a man accidentally set fire to his room which allegedly was drug-related. The other fire occurred at 9 p.m. when a television shorted out on the sixth floor causing smoke to fill the hallway.

Both fires were considered minor, but the hotel was evacuated in both instances.

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