LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada officials have ordered inspections at apartment complexes deemed susceptible to fire in the aftermath of deadly Las Vegas fire.
The Las Vegas Sun reports the increase in inspections is intended as proactive fire prevention following the Alpine Motel Apartment fire that killed six people and injured 13.
The Dec. 21 fire was the deadliest in Las Vegas city limits.
Department of Building and Fire Prevention Director Jerry Stueve told the Clark County Commission on Tuesday that inspectors will focus on apartments and non-transient motel-hotel residencies with center hallways and exits on either side, similar to the Alpine Motel layout.
Stueve could not immediately provide the number of center hallway apartments in unincorporated Clark County. He also did not know how many apartments were constructed before the code required sprinklers and smoke alarms.
Alpine had faulty or missing detectors, authorities said.
The building department plans to issue notices of upcoming inspections to identified complexes within 30 days.
“We’re going to continue what we’re doing on existing apartment inspections and staying on top of fire prevention with new construction,” Stueve said.
Inspections will be prioritized by occupancy and building age, fire officials said.
“We want residents who feel they are in danger to reach out and put their complaints in writing,” Clark County Fire Chief Greg Cassell said. “We don’t know what we don’t know on some of those properties.”
The county should look into requiring apartment managers and staff to be trained on escape routes in order for property owners to renew business licenses, Commissioner Jim Gibson said.
“It seems to me training these workers ought to be something required of all these folks,” Gibson said. “Particularly now from what we’ve learned from this sad experience that there is a real risk.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.