Fires Nevada

On the morning of Nov. 21, 1980, the sound of sirens stirred Rafael Patino from bed. "Usually when you hear sirens, they come and then they go," he said. "But these were coming and staying." When he looked out the window of his 16th-floor room, he realized that the Las Vegas MGM Grand Hotel was on fire. "I woke up my wife and we got dressed to leave," said Patino, an Irvine sales executive. "But when we walked out of the room, we couldn't see anything. The hall was pitch black with smoke.

Two employees have been fired and three others disciplined at a Las Vegas hospital accused of "patient dumping" -- sending mentally ill patients to other states, including California. The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that 10 of roughly 1,500 patients discharged from Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital had been placed on buses within the last five years without "a support system/family/friends/housing at the destination," the Sacramento Bee reported.

Armed with tons of seed, crews are launching the Herculean task of replanting millions of acres of Nevada blackened in the state's worst wilderness fire season on record. About 17 tons of seed were on hand just in western Nevada, which was spared the worst of the devastating flames that swept across the north-central and northeastern parts of the state.

Nevada Coach Chris Tormey was fired Sunday after failing to guide his team to a winning record in four seasons. The firing came a day after No. 18 Boise State ended Nevada's season with a 56-3 victory. The Wolf Pack went 1-4 down the stretch to finish 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the Western Athletic Conference. Nevada Athletic Director Chris Ault cited Tormey's overall record of 16-31 and failure to beat in-state rival Nevada Las Vegas as factors in his decision.

Firefighters battled scores of lightning-caused brush and timber fires along the Sierra in Northern California and Nevada on Saturday and contained an 800-acre blaze that threatened a community of expensive homes near Carson City. The Nevada fire, described as the worst blaze in the capital area in nearly two decades, was set by lightning strikes from a huge thunderstorm that moved into the area Friday night. Damage was estimated at $1 million.

Two men, including one from Southern California, were arrested on charges of deliberately starting a North Las Vegas motel fire last year that claimed four lives and injured 31 occupants. Motel 5 caught fire March 6, 1986. Damage was estimated at $375,000. A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said motel owner Jui Fa Lin, 48, was arrested at his North Las Vegas home and motel manager Mark Y. Lee, 51, was taken into custody at his apartment in Glendora.

A fire that caused minor damage Tuesday to a showroom in a resort hotel plagued with labor problems was deliberately set, investigators said. The fire filled the showroom of the Landmark Hotel with smoke but was quickly extinguished by firefighters, said Bob Leinbach of the Clark County Fire Department. Five workers in the showroom were evacuated but not injured. Leinbach said investigators determined the fire was deliberately set in an area beneath a small stage in the showroom.

Fire ripped through a hotel before dawn Saturday, sending more than 200 sleepy guests scurrying to safety from the flames and smoke near the glittering Las Vegas Strip. Three people were treated for minor smoke inhalation injuries in the fire at the Las Vegas Inn, but no serious injuries were reported and no one was believed trapped in the five-story hotel, officials said.

Firefighters gained the upper hand Saturday on a 2,511-acre wildland fire on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, 30 miles northeast of here. The so-called Warrior Fire was fully contained Saturday night, fire information officers said. More than 150 firefighters battled the flames, which exploded Friday after smoldering for about a day following a lightning strike. The fire was centered about two miles west of Nevada Route 445 in the hills overlooking the west side of Pyramid Lake.

Sharp disagreements over factory safety emerged Thursday as an investigation got under way into the origin of an explosion at a rocket fuel plant that caused millions of dollars in property damage and left one man dead and another presumed killed. Some workers and union leaders charged Thursday that Pacific Engineering and Production Co.

An explosion on the roof of Caesars Palace hotel-casino Thursday injured three people and sent black smoke billowing over the Las Vegas Strip. Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said a propane tank on a third-floor roof exploded at 11:24 a.m., igniting a brief two-alarm fire . A construction worker was burned on 20% of his body and received shrapnel-type injuries, and two guests received burns and concussion-related injuries.

Firefighters gained the upper hand Saturday on a 2,511-acre wildland fire on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, 30 miles northeast of here. The so-called Warrior Fire was fully contained Saturday night, fire information officers said. More than 150 firefighters battled the flames, which exploded Friday after smoldering for about a day following a lightning strike. The fire was centered about two miles west of Nevada Route 445 in the hills overlooking the west side of Pyramid Lake.

A fire raced through an eight-unit apartment complex Tuesday, killing three small children and a man in a wheelchair. "It looks like a bomb hit the complex," said Bob Leinbach, a spokesman for the Clark County Fire Department. "The place is a total loss." The victims included a 2-year-old boy and his sisters, ages 4 and 5. The names of the victims were withheld pending notification of relatives.

Armed with tons of seed, crews are launching the Herculean task of replanting millions of acres of Nevada blackened in the state's worst wilderness fire season on record. About 17 tons of seed were on hand just in western Nevada, which was spared the worst of the devastating flames that swept across the north-central and northeastern parts of the state.

LeRoy and Sandy Sestanovich ran their eyes over the Nevada range land his family has ranched for half a century. It looked like a charred piece of toast. There was no life, only the blackened skeletons of juniper trees and the scorched stumps of sagebrush. Up a canyon lay the remains of one of their bulls, a dried-out hide draped over bones in a hauntingly stark image of death. In what is by far the worst fire season on record in this arid state, some 1.

A house fire in Las Vegas killed a 2-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy who had been left alone, and their 4-year-old brother was in critical condition with burns. Fire investigators said the blaze was accidental and was started by a space heater that was plugged into an extension cord in a back bedroom. The parents reported they had left the house about 10 p.m. to get groceries and returned near midnight, about an hour after firefighters arrived, an official said. No charges have been filed.

A mother and her small child were killed early Friday when their house caught fire from candles lit during a power outage caused by hurricane-force winds that whipped through the Las Vegas Valley. Two other children in the house were pushed through a window to safety by their father, who also escaped the 1:30 a.m. blaze. The house was one of more than 100,000 that were without electricity for hours late Thursday and early Friday when winds gusting to 80 m.p.h. ripped through the city.

Solid rocket fuel is among the most explosive and dangerous substances in the defense and space industries, but it was chosen for use in the boosters of the Space Shuttle because among other things it is cheaper and easier to store than liquid fuel, according to experts in the space industry.

Air tankers, helicopters and crews on the ground waged war Tuesday on a 6,000-acre blaze at Reno's outskirts. Meanwhile, firefighters in Utah battled a 130,000-acre wildfire across the west desert. Those fires and outbreaks in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming sapped the number of available air tankers, helicopters, engines and crews. "Utah is taking an awful lot of the hand crews we requested," fire information officer Stacey Giomi said in Reno.

Flames engulfed a 500-foot, under-construction observation tower early Sunday, forcing evacuation of hundreds of gamblers from the adjacent 22-story Vegas World Hotel Casino, authorities said. There were no injuries, but a block-wide area was evacuated as the fire went to a third alarm just before 2 a.m. Flames leaping into the early morning sky could be seen for miles, and Las Vegas Boulevard became gridlocked before officials shut it down to motorists.