Fort Amargosa burns to the ground

A fire at Fort Amargosa, a landmark gas station-convenience store-restaurant complex that burned to the ground over the weekend, started in a storage room just outside the restaurant kitchen, the fire chief said.

“We have not been able to identify what actually started the fire,” Chief Rich Flanagan of the Amargosa Volunteer Fire Department said this week. “The actual ignition source we have not been able to identify.”

The Nevada State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the fire. Foul play is not suspected.

No one was injured in the fire reported about midnight Saturday at 2642 E. Highway 95, about 35 miles northwest of Pahrump.

The blaze was brought under control in about 90 minutes and declared out about 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

Firefighters from throughout the region, including Amargosa Valley, Pahrump and the Nevada National Security Site, battled the flames.

Fort Amargosa was closed for the day when the fire was reported, Flanagan said.

“The volunteers that I had responding to the (fire) station from their homes could already see the flames in the air,” he said.

“The first arriving fire units found that the building was fully involved,” he said. “Inside, and the decorative wood finishing that they had on the outside to make the building look like a fort, that was all fully involved, also.”

The building could not be saved.

By the time firefighters reached the scene, part of the roof had collapsed, Flanagan said.

Firefighters were able to stop the fire from spreading to a laundry room at a nearby RV park in addition to Fort Amargosa’s gas station. Radiant heat hitting the fuel pumps was the concern.

As the fire burned, two tenders were used to supply water because a yard fire hydrant was too close to the fire.

“That yard hydrant was so close to the building, with everything on the outside burning like that, that we just couldn’t get to that hydrant,” Flanagan said, citing potential risks to the firefighters.

The water tenders did shuttle runs to the Amargosa fire station an estimated 10 miles away.

“They were constantly going back and forth,” Flanagan said.

“We had adequate water,” he said. “As one (tender) was coming out to the fire scene full (of water), the other one was going to fill up. So about the time the tender at the fire scene was about ready to empty, the other one was already on the way. So there was minimal delay as far as getting water supply.”

As the blaze burned, firefighters reached out to RV park residents to reassure them and ask that they stay put.

“They were all ready to hook up their campers and wanting to leave the RV park,” Flanagan said.

“If we had let that happen, it would have hindered our operation because they would have been getting in the way of hose lines being laid and fire attack happening. They understood the issue, and they waited it out … They were very patient.”

Electricity also was cut to the RV park as firefighters worked nearby and during the investigation Sunday.

Flanagan was appreciative of the mutual aid assistance.

“A big thanks to Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue for their assistance. Chief (Scott) Lewis who was on-scene with me assisting me with the overall operation and the firefighters from the Nevada National Security Site also came out under mutual aid. So I want to throw a thanks out to them also.”

Lewis praised the work of firefighters in stopping the fire from spreading.

“It could have been even more catastrophic,” he said.

Fort Amargosa, built to look like an actual fort, featured a wood facade and cinderblock, Lewis said. He described Fort Amargosa as a significant structure along the Highway 95 corridor.

“It has great (economic) value to the community,” he said.

That point was emphasized by Nova Daniels, who shared fire photos and video via Facebook. “Myself, amongst many other co-workers, are in need of employment, help, or assistance,” she wrote on the Jobs in Pahrump site.