Structure fires, rollover crash engage area emergency crews

A crew member with Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services was transported to the hospital after sustaining an injury while battling a structure fire on Wednesday.

Chief Scott Lewis said Lt. Kevin Clickner received the injury as crews were battling the fire at a residence along Gamebird Road.

"The lieutenant sustained two puncture wounds to his right hand," he said. "There were two nails that actually went through his personal protective equipment. He was treated at the local hospital and he was back on duty the following day and he's doing well. The personal protective equipment in this case were his gloves."

Lewis said the early morning fire gutted the unoccupied home.

"Upon arrival, we had a two-story single-family dwelling with heavy fire showing through the roof," he said. "During the size-up, it was determined the utilities were not supplying any services to the dwelling and it appeared to be a vacant structure which was confirmed by the neighbors and the sheriff's office."

Lewis noted that crews were able to extinguish the blaze in short order.

"We commenced a defensive exterior attack due to the heavy fire conditions," he said. "The crews were able to quickly knock down the main body of fire and then switched over to hand lines for the overall process. The cause of the fire is suspect in nature as there were no utilities supplying the residence. It appears it was at least 5 years since it was last occupied."

That same morning, crews dispatched for a report of another structure fire at 1701 West Bella Vista.

Lewis said upon their arrival, crews found light smoke conditions inside the home.

"On the interior, they found light smoke conditions and determined it was a malfunctioning HVAC system," Lewis said. "The fire was found to be held to the appliance and there was no evidence of extensions."

Shortly thereafter, Lewis said fire crews were redispatched back to the Gamebird Road residence.

"A structural member had begun to smoke and develop some open flames," he said. Crews went out and overhauled that particular area. They were committed for approximately 1 hour. "The precipitation that we had that day certainly did not help our efforts during the Gamebird call, as crews had to move the lines around in the mud. We also had to be extremely careful with the placement of our apparatus to make sure they were maintained on the hardest surface available to us, because it was all dirt."

Just after 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, emergency crews responded to Highway 160 for a single-vehicle rollover crash, injuring at least one occupant of the vehicle.

Clark County emergency crews also responded to the scene.

Upon arrival, crews found the vehicle resting on its roof and entangled in cables running along the median.

"Initially it was stated to be located on 160 around mile-marker 37, however, we in fact found the accident at around mile-marker 33," he said. "We found that one occupant had self-extricated and we found a second occupant still within the vehicle who stated he could not egress out on his own. Our crews arrived first and we established 160 command. They initiated a simple door pop on the driver's side, which allowed us access to the patient and we successfully removed the patient who was transferred to Mercy Air 21 who then transported the patient to UMC Trauma in Las Vegas."

On Monday crews responded to a mutual-aid assignment along with the Inyo Fire District, in California for a report of another structure fire just after 3 p.m. on Monday.

"It was specifically in the area of Charleston View," Lewis said. "We in fact found a single-wide manufactured dwelling with what appeared to be an older vehicle closely placed to the structure. Both were on fire as were the surrounding materials. There was no one immediately available in the area. We commenced a defensive exterior attack, quickly knocking down the fire. Inyo cruise arrived and assumed the scene."

On Tuesday, emergency crews responded to Elderberry Street after receiving a call from a resident in the area who discovered an unknown male lying in the roadway surrounded by a pool of blood from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"We received a telephone call directly to the department reporting a male lying on the street with severe bleeding," Lewis said. "It did not appear that the person was moving. We self-dispatched and notified the sheriff's office who dispatched sheriff's deputies. Upon our arrival in that area we found that there was an apparent gunshot wound of some type."

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com