Two houses damaged by fire Friday night

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Sunday, May 30, 2010 | 2:32 a.m.

Las Vegas firefighters put out two house fires Friday night that did an estimated $200,000 combined damage and left several pets dead or missing, officials said.

The first fire was reported about 8:30 p.m. at a house in the 3200 block of Merritt Avenue, near Sahara Avenue and Valley View Boulevard, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue officials said.

When firefighters arrived, heavy flames were just beginning to burn through the roof, officials said.

Firefighters surrounded the blaze to stop it from spreading to neighboring houses and then put out the fire, officials said. It took about 15 minutes to put out the fire.

A dog and several cats died in the fire. No other injuries were reported. The fire did about $125,000 damage, officials said.

Later, at about 10 p.m., firefighters were called to a blaze in the 6300 block of O’Bannon Drive, near Sahara Avenue and Torrey Pines Drive.

Firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the two-story house and forced their way inside. It took about 10 minutes to extinguish the blaze. The living room was heavily damaged, and the rest of the house sustained heat and smoke damage, officials said.

Two dogs were in the house when the fire started, officials said. One was retrieved by neighbors and the other one was still missing.

The fire did an estimated $75,000 damage. The cause is under investigation.