Three kids killed in fire

Three brothers ages 2, 4 and 5 died in a mobile-home fire on East Lake Mead Boulevard this morning.

The 25-year-old mother of the children and a fourth son, 18 months old, were listed in fair condition at University Medical Center, believed to be suffering from smoke inhalation. The mother also received severe cuts.

The identities of the victims were not released this morning.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky called the tragedy the worst he has seen since the MGM hotel-casino fire of 1980.

"This is as bad as it gets for firefighters," La-Sky said. "There have been fires where one or two were killed, but I can't remember three."

Three other fires in the past two years have resulted in the deaths of children. In the most recent previous one, Dec. 10, a brother and sister died of smoke inhalation after being pulled from an apartment fire the day before. Two other fires, one last January and one in March 1997, also resulted in the deaths of two siblings each.

In the Tuesday fire in the Casa Linda mobile-home park at 5250 E. Lake Mead Blvd., the three brothers were trapped in two rear bedrooms of the double-wide mobile home.

The fire was reported at 7:27 a.m., and firefighters could see the black smoke rising from the mobile home as they pulled off the exit ramp from Interstate 15.

By then, the mobile home was fully engulfed and could not be saved.

"We dumped a lot of water on it, but mobile homes go up so fast," La-Sky said. The fire was out within 15 minutes of the call, he said.

The young mother cut herself severely either getting out of the mobile home or trying to get back in to save her other children, La-Sky said.

Thirty firefighters from six units controlled the single-alarm blaze and saved nearby mobile homes from possible damage. Strong winds this morning caused concern but were not a factor in the end, he said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation and homicide investigators were on the scene, which is routine when fires result in fatalities, he said.

The tragedy occurred on a busy morning for firefighters. An arsonist earlier had set off seven blazes in a three-block area between midnight and 2 a.m.

La-Sky said the arsonist struck repeatedly in the American Village townhouse development in the 4900 block of East Flamingo Road.

The most serious damage was $35,000 to one of the units, and there were no injuries, he said.

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