Chief: Flames reached nearly 50 feet in fire that destroyed multiple buildings

An “all hands” response was enacted shortly after fire broke out at a property on Ricksue Street Sunday afternoon.

Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services Chief Scott Lewis told the Pahrump Valley Times that the exact cause of the incident remains under investigation by the fire department and the deputy state fire marshal.

Lewis said that multiple structures and personal property at the residence were destroyed by flames, as firefighters fought to get the fire under control.

“Almost immediately, it went out as an unknown-type fire,” Lewis said. “As crews were responding, they observed a large smoke column but within a minute, it had changed dramatically to a heavy, dark-colored plume of black smoke filling the entire area.”

Lewis went on to say that once crews arrived on location, they observed 40-to-50-foot flames as the entire property became well-involved and was extending onto neighboring properties.

As the fire leapt over Ricksue Street, it began igniting spot fires along the way, according to Lewis.

“Eventually it ignited a Conex storage container and a travel trailer in addition to a relatively decent-sized or a good-sized brush fire; it was backing onto other properties to the south and onto properties to the west,” he noted. “This was in an area without fire hydrants. There were at least 10 structures involved on the property.”

Blitz attack

Due to the wind-driven conditions on Sunday, crews utilized what’s known as a defensive exterior objective, dumping large amounts of water on the flames.

“We could not use normal hand-lines on a fire of that intensity and size, so we were forced to utilize master streams, but without a fire hydrant close by, crews had to get water from a hydrant at the nearby elementary school and keep going back and forth to ensure the continuation of those shuttles.”

‘All hands’ response

As the fire continued to spread, Lewis said an additional alarm was struck.

“We dictated our all hands, which brought our staff back and brought NNSS fire crews to the fire grounds.

Crews from Amargosa Valley’s Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the scene.

“Those resources allowed us to control and protect additional exposures and also direct the fire attack on the property,” Lewis said. “Initially, it was dispatched as a fire with people trapped, but we found through our investigation at very early stages that there were no life-safety issues. There were also erroneous reports that someone was killed, but that was not the case. There were however, precautionary evacuations.”

Under investigation

As far as the exact cause of the fire, Lewis said that the deputy state fire marshal also responded to assist in the initial phase of the investigation.

“We don’t believe it is anything less than accidental, however, we are not ruling anything out,” he said. “We’re going to continue with the investigation and see what direction that takes us.”

Valley Electric crews were also summoned to secure power on the properties, as well as the American Red Cross to provide assistance to at least two residents living on the immediate property.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com or on X: @pvtimes