3 days ago
VIDEO: Fire destroys Las Vegas shopping complex, 8 businesses damaged, including post office
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Clark County fire crews battled a large fire Friday morning in a business complex across the street from the UNLV campus on Maryland Parkway, near Tropicana Avenue.
The fire was reported shortly after 8 a.m. at 4632 S. Maryland Parkway. The plaza is known as the University Gardens and houses several businesses, including a post office, which fire officials said was destroyed.
'We arrived to find the two-story strip mall main center section of the strip mall with heavy fire and smoke showing from the roof,' Clark County Fire Deputy Chief Thomas Touchstone said. 'We do have reports it started in the rear.'
Black smoke from the fire could be seen through the Las Vegas valley. Touchstone said Passersby called in the blaze. Most of the businesses in the complex had not opened for the day yet.
No injuries are reported, at this time, Touchstone said. 'Right now, we don't know if there are any victims because we haven't been able to search the main occupancy, and that's going to take us a few hours.'
Under heavy flames, the center of the building collapsed, creating a dangerous situation for firefighters.
Touchstone said crews went into a defensive mode to keep the flames from destroying the north and south ends of the two-story complex. As a result, those portions of the building had minimal damage.
Between 100 to 125 firefighters responded, and so did between 40 to 50 Las Vegas Metropolitan police officers.
Metro police said traffic is closed in both directions on Maryland Parkway between Harmon Avenue and University Road.
The fire was reported to be 90 percent contained at 9:30 a.m. and isn't posing a threat to other structures in the area, fire officials said.
Check back for more details on this developing story.
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