Shutters prevent woman's escape during fatal house fire

Page Last Updated: Wednesday July 28, 2010 6:04pm PDT

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Collette Wieland reporting

It wasn’t the typical house fire to which firefighters are accustomed. There was no heavy smoke, no flames shooting through the roof, and no obvious signs of trouble.

"It’s 4:30 in the morning, neighbors smell smoke and they see smoke but they can't find where it's coming from,” recalls North Las Vegas Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Brame. "In the front of the home, you see no smoke stains at all."

Instead, it was the unusual sight of smoke coming from the chimney that led rescue crews to the home.

Deputy Fire Chief Brame explains that the blaze was sealed by roll-down shutters covering every door and nearly every window of the victim’s home; the smoke and heat had no means of escape.

The temperature inside the burning home, which grew to between 500 and 1,000 degrees, became hotter than most self-cleaning ovens.

“In this situation the home became an oven. There was no place for the smoke and heat to go."

Those same shutters, which the victim used for protection, may have also contributed to her death. Fire officials say it would have been very difficult for her to get out of the house.

It’s likely that a lit cigarette left burning caused the fire; neighbors say the woman who lived in the home on Redfield Avenue was a heavy smoker.

And, according to area resident Sharon Osserman, the victim also lived in fear.

"Very nice ,quiet lady. Sweet. She was definitely robbed and frightened and so then she had roll-in shutters put in."

Collette Wieland: Have you seen a fire like this, personally?

"On the shutter systems like this, to this degree, I have not,” says Deputy Chief Brame. “And this is my 34th year in this business."

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