Apartment blaze displaces 21; one held for questioning

One person was detained and was being questioned after a fire tore through a building at a central Las Vegas apartment complex, displacing 21 people, fire officials said Monday.

Fire crews responded to the Esper Apartments at 4255 West Viking Road, near Flamingo Road and Arville Street, at about 8:40 a.m. Monday after a report of smoke and flames from an apartment window, according to an emailed statement from Senior Deputy Fire Chief/fire Marshal Kelly Blackmon of the Clark County Fire Department.

When crews got there, they found “smoke coming from the eaves and the 1st floor fully involved with extension to the attic,” the statement said.

Video released by the department showed flames shooting out of the roof of the building.

“Unfortunately, the building is a total loss,” the statement said.

Almost 70 people were involved in the response, Blackmon said, and crews knocked the fire down at about 9:26 a.m. Fire investigators also responded.

Eighteen adults, three children and 10 animals were displaced by the fire, Blackmon said.

There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The dollar value of the loss was still being determined, Blackmon said.

It’s one of several apartment fires that occurred in the Las Vegas Valley in 2023.

In June, a fire that ripped through a building at the Tides on Charleston complex, at 6501 W. Charleston Blvd. just west of South Torrey Pines Drive, killed one person, injured seven and displaced 18 people.

Later that month, a massive fire destroyed an apartment complex under construction at 8030 W.

Maule Ave., near South Buffalo Drive and the 215 Beltway in the southwest valley.

An August blaze at the Walker House Apartments, at 2700 S. Valley View Blvd., displaced multiple people.