Families pick up the pieces after deadly fire
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Victims are working to rebuild after a deadly fire. Video by ktnv.com
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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- Two families are trying to pick up the pieces after a deadly fire overnight.
Flames damaged two apartments near Bonanza and Maryland Parkway.
Elizabeth Gusman and her family waited until her kids went to school before they went back into her apartment, which was badly damaged by fire overnight.
"I didn't want them to see what we're doing now -- getting whatever stuff we can keep," Elizabeth said.
The fire, which was caught on camera by neighbors Jerry Palafox and Michelle Clarkson, started in the upstairs apartment around 11 p.m. on Wednesday. Gusman said she was heading to bed at the time.
"Thank God for my cousin," Elizabeth said. "She came busting my back window, saying 'get the babies out, there's a fire.'"
Fire crews were able to control the blaze within minutes. But when they went to the upstairs unit, they found the body of a man lying on the floor next to the bed.
Guxman said her uncle lived upstairs, and she believes the man who died was a friend of his. She did not know him well, but hearing that he died made her realize just how lucky her family was to get out.
Investigators have not determined what caused the fire, but they did find cigarettes and matches in the room where they think the fire started.
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