Susan and Larry Ashton built their home from the ground up. "Every nail, part in the plumbing. We did it ourselves," Susan Ashton said.
When a neighbor told them flames were racing through their front yard, Ashton feared the house she and her husband worked so hard to build was about to go up in smoke. "It thought we were going to lose everything," Ashton said.
The fire erupted around 11p.m. Tuesday. Flames forced the couple to scramble.
"We ran out of the house as fast as we could," Ashton said, blaming the blaze on illegal fireworks.
The couple heard the loud booms and bangs right up to the moment of the fire. "We heard a bunch of fireworks. They were really noisy, big bombs going off, and really, really bright lights."
The fire at the Asthon's home was just one of many related to July-fourth fireworks in Las Vegas and Clark County. People around the valley even an fire official, saying Tuesday night was the worst they've seen. "I've been here 21 year and I haven't seen this much firework activity in the air," said Tim Szymanski, spokesman for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue.
"This year was absolutely out of control," Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly.
Metro was supposed to crack down on illegal fireworks. When asked what the board could do to reduce the dangers of illegal fireworks, weekly recommended a curfew, saying “After midnight, I believe it should be shut down. I don't understand that. What's the need of shooting fireworks off at 1:30 or 2 in the morning?"
