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Man facing arson charges in Sunday dumpster fire

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A man has been arrested for an alleged arson Sunday afternoon.

Harold E. Hipps, 49, is in custody and is charged with one count of first degree arson and one count of third degree arson.

Las Vegas and Clark County firefighters responded to the Fairfield Apartments, near Stratosphere hotel-casino, at 2:25 p.m. Sunday. When firefighters arrived they found a dumpster on fire in the 2100 block of Fairfield Ave., with fire moving up the rear of the one story apartment building.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire quickly and prevent it from doing much damage to the inside. The fire did damage some power lines, and NV Energy was called to repair the burned lines. No injuries were reported.

Witnesses told police that a man was seen near the dumpster when the fire started and left the scene. The man was later detained by a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department patrol unit in the area and held for fire investigators. After talking with the man, fire investigators took him into custody and charged him with the fire.

Hipps is being held in the Clark County Detention Center. The incident is being handled by Las Vegas Fire & Rescue investigators.

There was another dumpster fire earlier in the day in the same complex, the cause of that fire is undetermined.

Early Sunday, Clark County arson investigators took a suspect into custody in a  fire in the 750 block of Twain Avenue while on Monday, a man was arrested in a North Las Vegas arson.