Het verhaal
A Clark County building inspector flagged structural problems at a central Las Vegas Valley strip mall days before part of the building came down, according to inspection records obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KTNV.
The inspector noted a “potential structural hazard” at 6105 W. Flamingo Road, near South Jones Boulevard, after an Aug. 3 visit. Photos attached to the report showed cracks and sagging along the upper exterior and roofline. The inspector wrote that a property representative was told what inspectors were seeing and that the owner said a structural engineer was being contacted. The building housed a Subway, a Marco’s Pizza, a smoke shop and a vacant storefront.
On Aug. 12, a front portion of the structure collapsed onto the walkway. Clark County Fire Department Battalion Chief Adam Weiss said three people were treated for injuries at the scene and that three people had to be extricated because fallen debris blocked the storefronts. Firefighters treated the call as a structural collapse and used a technical rescue team. Metropolitan Police later released 911 audio in which a caller said, “We just had a building collapse over here on Flamingo and Jones. … It looks like the whole front end just collapsed.”
Follow-up notes in the county file identify the owner as Rand & Miner LLC. An inspector wrote that a representative said on Aug. 10 that a structural assessment had been completed and a bid prepared “to have the building shored up.” “Unfortunately by the time the construction crews could complete the shoring of the building it collapsed on August 12,” the inspector wrote. Clark County spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper said the building was declared a dangerous structure and red-tagged, making occupancy unlawful without written permission from the building official. KTNV reported the Building Department ordered the owner to repair the structure or have it torn down by Sept. 17. KSNV reported the files do not establish the engineering cause of the failure or who was responsible.