Fire destroys Logandale garage building

Fire-ravaged and destroyed a stolen garage building in Logandale on Friday, Sept. 24. The Moapa Valley Fire District (MVFD) was alerted to the incident on Pioneer Road in Logandale at 5:37 that evening.

Firefighting units from Logandale Station #73 were first to roll up onto the scene. Upon arrival they found the 30 foot x 50 foot metal garage, located just behind the main residence, fully involved in flame, according to MVFD Chief Stephen Neel.

“There were flames issuing out the front door of the garage,” said Neel. “And bystanders were there with a garden hose trying their best to put it out.”

Neel said that the first priority was to protect the house which was spaced only about five feet away from the burning structure. So the firefighters began by spraying down the house and its immediate surroundings to keep it from going up in flames.

Very quickly, the attention was turned to the burning structure. Firefighting units from Moapa Station #72 and Overton Station #74 also responded quickly to assist in fighting the blaze.

Neel said that the garage apparently had a lot of flammable materials stored inside which made the fire extremely hot.
“I have never seen anything like that before,” Neel said. “The metal support beams became so hot that they lost their integrity and started to cave in. The roof began to come down. So at one point we had to pull all the firefighters out of the exterior doorways for their safety.”

Eventually the fire was brought under control. But because the building had collapsed, firefighters were unable to get inside to extinguish all the hotspots.

“We had to cut holes in the exterior of the structure to get hoses in there and get some of the hot spots,” Neel said. “And even then there was a high chance of re-ignition.”

So a fire watch was set up where friends, neighbors and community members volunteered to take two-hour shifts throughout the night and watch the site to make sure that the fire didn’t spring back up again.

A preliminary assessment of the site determined that the cause of the blaze was electrical in nature. But Neel said that a more thorough investigation is ongoing.

The fire caused a total loss to the garage and all of its contents. But no damage was done to the main residential structure on site.

One bystander was treated for smoke inhalation but was released on scene. No other injuries occurred.