At least 10 buildings were either damaged or destroyed in massive fire in downtown Las Vegas, a few mile from the Strip and the Fremont St Experience, early Sunday morning. By 6:00 a.m. the bulk of the fire was knocked down, but several flare-ups and hot spots remained. Firefighters are expected to be on site for most of Sunday. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. While being the largest fire in the past 25 years in the city of Las Vegas according to a press release, only one minor injury was reported. At least 100 people took refuge in an evacuation center located at a near-by school. The Las Vegas Fire & Rescue crew had noticed a large column of smoke on East Charleston Boulevard earlier Sunday morning. As they approached Eastern Avenue, they saw a large building under construction fully involved with fire at 200 Tower Street at 12:56 a.m. The building on fire was inside a condominium complex off Fremont Street. The crew entered the condo complex and found the building fully involved. The fire escalated due to brisk southwest winds causing two more alarms to go off which brought approximately 40 fire units with 140 fire personnel from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Clark County to the scene. This fire while being the largest in 25 years was not close to the Strip or any Tourist Destination.
