Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019 | 10:40 a.m.
Two separate fires damaged a vacant house and an empty building in the downtown Arts District that created so much smoke that police closed surrounding streets, according to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue officials.
Nobody was injured in either fire.
Las Vegas and Clark County firefighters responded about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday to a blaze at a large vacant building at Charleston Boulevard and Main Street, officials said.
The fire created a cloud of ground-hugging smoke in the Arts District that was so thick that visibility was nearly zero at times, officials said. Police closed Charleston and Main in the area to prevent crashes, officials said.
The fire was extinguished by about 10 p.m., and the cause is under investigation, officials said. There were indications that homeless people were staying in the building, officials said.
A damage estimate was not immediately available.
The other fire was reported about 2:30 a.m. today at a vacant house in the 3000 block of Alta Drive, officials said.
It took about a hour to bring the blaze under control. The fire did an estimated $750,000 in damage, officials said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. The house was damaged in a previous fire in September, officials said.
The Clark County Fire Department, meanwhile, responded about 12:10 p.m. today to a report of a garage fire with someone possibly inside in the 3600 block of Scotwood Street.
Crews quickly determined nobody was inside and put out the fire, officials said. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, officials said. A damage estimate was not immediately available.
