LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A large fire that created a plume of smoke visible for miles caused extensive damage to a business complex near the UNLV campus on Friday morning, officials with the Clark County Fire Department tell us.
Watch Tricia Kean and Hailey Gravitt report on the aftermath of Friday's fire
A U.S. Post Office is among several businesses "completely destroyed" by the fire, CCFD officials stated. There were people in the post office when the fire started, but officials believe they all made it out safely.
The fire was initially spotted coming from the roof of the University Gardens strip mall at approximately 8:12 a.m., according to CCFD Senior Deputy Chief Thomas Touchstone, who shared initial details with media just after 9 a.m.
Watch the initial details from Sr. Deputy Chief Touchstone here:
In an updated news release Friday afternoon, CCFD states the cause and origin of the fire are still under investigation, but it's "reported to have started on the first floor at the rear of the strip mall."
Touchstone says the fire quickly grew and spread, prompting firefighters to begin a defensive operation to prevent it from spreading to the additional businesses in the north and south wings of the complex, which Touchstone says was successful.
"Due to the extensive damage to the building, CCFD has not been able to complete a search for victims," officials stated Friday afternoon. "CCFD does not currently have any reason to believe any of the businesses other than the Post Office were occupied, but will continue efforts to make contact with impacted business owners to confirm all employees are accounted for."
There were at least 125 firefighters and dozens of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers on the scene as of 9:20 a.m. At that time, Touchstone estimated the fire to be 90% contained.
One factor that could have contributed to the fire's easy spread: Touchstone notes he doesn't believe the building had a sprinkler system.
"I'm pretty confident it was built before sprinklers were required," he said.
TIME LAPSE: This traffic camera video shows the scale of the blaze and how firefighters responded:
A major concern now, and in the coming days, is the possibility that the structure will collapse, "and we'll be dealing with that for the next few days," Touchstone said, adding that it's possible the building could have to be torn down.
The burning of the post office means federal agents will likely get involved in the investigation, Touchstone noted.
Smoke from the blaze could be seen from miles away on Friday morning. This video shared with Channel 13 shows the column of smoke and some flames:
This video from one of our roof cameras shows the plume of smoke from the fire:
