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Firefighters investigate 2 vacant house fires

Posted at 1:46 PM, Feb 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-13 21:31:38-05

Two vacant buildings went up in flames overnight, likely caused by squatters.

A house in the northwest and an apartment building downtown were damaged by fire last night.  Both of the buildings had many similarities, but were not connected.  No one was injured at either incident.
 
The first fire occurred at 9:42 p.m. Friday in a vacant one story house in the 6900 block of Evanston Avenue, near Rainbow Boulevard and Alexander Road.  The house was boarded up and had no utilities connected to it.

The fire was in the attic of the house, mostly around a fireplace chimney. The fire caused $10,000 damage.
 
The exact cause of the fire is undetermined.  It appeared that squatters were staying in the house. Neighbors said two people were seen leaving the house shortly before the fire.
 
The second fire occurred at 1:33 a.m. Saturday in a vacant apartment building downtown in the 300 block of North Ninth Street.  This building was also boarded up and had no utilities connected to it.
 
As in the other fire, the exact cause of the fire could not be determined.  This building also had evidence that squatters were staying in it.  A damage estimate was not available at this time.
 
Both fires were quickly extinguished and remain under investigation by Las Vegas Fire investigators.