Neighbors tried to save children, woman in fatal Pahrump fire

PAHRUMP -- They could hear the baby crying, but they couldn't reach him.

Frantic neighbors smashed windows with rocks, but smoke and flames drove them back as a fast-moving blaze ripped through a home Wednesday morning in this town 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

The 1-year-old boy died in the fire with two other boys, ages 3 and 4, and a woman, 24.

The woman was trying to call for help when she succumbed to the smoke.

"She died on the phone with 911," Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo said.

Scott Lewis, chief of the Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue Service, said firefighters pulled the three children out of the burning home, but they were pronounced dead a short time later at Desert View Regional Medical Center in Pahrump.

Investigators from the Nevada State Fire Marshal's Office are in Pahrump trying to determine what sparked the fire.

Lewis wouldn't speculate on the cause or where in the home the flames originated. "We're keeping our minds open to every possibility," he said.

The fire was reported about 9:30 a.m., and there was "heavy fire with thick black smoke in all the windows" when the first firefighters arrived on scene, Lewis said.

Before that, about a dozen neighbors tried to rescue those trapped inside the home on Prospector Lane, a narrow paved street of widely spaced manufactured homes on Pahrump's west side. Among them were an off-duty sheriff's deputy and a volunteer firefighter from the Nevada National Security Site north of Pahrump.

"All the neighbors were trying to pull them out, breaking windows and stuff," said Mike Rhoads, who lives two doors down from the double-wide mobile home that burned.

"The saddest part is you could hear the baby crying and nobody could get to" him, said Charlene Gamble, Rhoads' fiancée.

Rhoads said he tried to run a garden hose over to the burning structure, but it wasn't long enough.

He helped break some of the windows out. Then he crouched on the ground so another man could step on his back and climb into the home.

Rhoads said the man disappeared into the thick black smoke for about 10 seconds before he lunged back out the window, his glasses and face coated in dark soot.

Roger Taylor, another neighbor, also tried to climb into the building.

"I got halfway through the window and the smoke choked me out," he said. "I spent the rest of the time coughing and puking in the front yard."

The mother of the three boys ran around the chaotic scene in a panic, her hands cut and bleeding from broken glass.

"She was running back and forth in front of the house screaming, " Taylor said.

"She wanted to get in there," Gamble added.

Lewis said the woman, whose name was not released, was the only occupant of the double-wide mobile home who got out alive.

Rhoads said he was standing there when firefighters brought the three children out one by one. He said one boy wasn't breathing at all. Another boy, maybe the oldest, was drawing ragged gasps of air.

"He was struggling. He'd take a deep breath and then he'd stop," Rhoads said.

A firefighter with burns on his neck and a sheriff's deputy who inhaled too much smoke were treated at the hospital in Pahrump.

DeMeo said a second deputy and the volunteer firefighter from the Nevada National Security Site were taken to a hospital in Las Vegas for additional treatment.

Lewis said the mother of the three boys also was treated for smoke inhalation and the cuts on her hands.

The off-duty deputy who rushed to the fire from his residence nearby was treated at the scene for minor injuries, DeMeo said.

None of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening.

Authorities wouldn't reveal the names of the victims on Wednesday, but the Pahrump Valley Times identified the woman who died as Crystal Smiley, a baby sitter for the three boys.

The Pahrump newspaper, which is owned by the parent company of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, identified the boys' parents as Sharon and Anthony Broadhead.

Neighbors said the mother and children moved into the home about five months ago. Few seemed to know the family except in passing.

Taylor said, "Their children played with my children and my grandchildren at the Super Bowl party we just had."

Darla Gamble, Charlene's mother, said all the people on Prospector Lane may not be on a first-name basis, but they look out for each other.

"You may not talk to your neighbors much, but everyone ran to help," she said.

Taylor still seemed shaken by the experience as he talked about it Wednesday afternoon, but he was better than he had been earlier in the day.

"I was just trembling," Taylor said as he sipped a can of beer to calm his nerves. "It took me an hour to realize that we just tried to pull people out of a burning building."

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.

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Comments

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1. ck Feb. 12, 2011 | 5:17 p.m. Report Abuse

   Shame on You People, as a Mother that lost 4 children in a house fire the day after Christmas 1995. I know what this mother was doing and going through. I myself climbed out a window with my 8 yr old daughter and 2 mth old and ran to the other side of the house to the sliding glass door and broke it!! Ran in only to feel dizzy and feel pain and pressure while trying to find my other 4 children Amy 7, Brandon 5, Aaron 4 and Casey 14 mths just to have to turn around and go back out to catch my breathe. In this one 2 men tried and couldn't stay in there, you don't know what it is like till you are in that situation!!! It still haunts me daily and it doesn't get any easier. Mine was caused by faulty Christmas tree lights, and i had to go through horrible accusations like yours!!! Mine was a house and it burned quickly, and mobiles burn faster so please dont judge, you have never had to go to the hospital and have a doctor tell you sorry all of them didn't make it. I HAVE!! my oldest child still has problems because of this, wonders why she survived and why god would take her sister and her brothers. She is 23 now and god has blessed her with a child but she still has nightmares of that night. So comfort the ones that survived as it is a lifelong tragedy that stays with you. God Bless this family!!!!

2. Shannon.K Feb. 11, 2011 | 4:37 a.m. Report Abuse

   Once again, the LVRJ proves that the "report abuse" button is meaningless and/or they simply don't care what kind of crap people spew on their site.

3. Familyfriend Feb. 10, 2011 | 11:18 p.m. Report Abuse

   Shame on you people who are arguing about who could have done what and where people live. Four innocent lives were lost. I pray that no one ever has to lose 3 children the same day. It is hard enough dealing with grieving over the lose of one person when it is their time to go, let alone all the innocent lives that were lost that day. I am a friend of the family and even though i didn't personally know crystal i grieve for a life lost so soon. What we should be doing is supporting those left alive and helping them through their grief and not adding to their pain with careless words. These families have enough to go through without having to hear people talk badly about their deceased family members, or those who have survived this horrible event. I pray for the souls of those that were lost. May God accept you into his kingdom and cherish you. RIP boys. RIP Crystal. You will be loved and missed!

4. JE.S Feb. 10, 2011 | 8:59 p.m. Report Abuse

   I always laugh when somebody calls other people "losers" or resort to ad homs to drive home a point....yet....they are grammatically challenged, as well as inable to put together a coherent sentence.
   
   Oh the Irony.
   
   Way to take a tragic situation and vent your own ineptitude and frustration. *rolls eyes*

5. JE.S Feb. 10, 2011 | 3:55 p.m. Report Abuse

   DWW...you have NO idea what happened in this situation and to call the mother "selfish"is just boorish on your part. I pray nothing like this ever happens to YOU and if it does, let us hope you know what to do in such a situation. It's REAL easy to pass judgement from where YOU are sitting, ennit?
   
   Vile. VOmitous and vile. Rather than revile the woman during this time,perhaps take a moment to reflect on what is important in life...children, family, friends, etc.

6. Shannon.K Feb. 10, 2011 | 3:44 p.m. Report Abuse

   Amazing how that works...criticize the "report abuse" button and the post magically disappears. The LVRJ needs to be paying more attention to the comments section.

7. Shannon.K Feb. 10, 2011 | 3:15 p.m. Report Abuse

   I also find despicable the comments from posters blaming the mother for not saving her children. You have no idea if she was in a different part of the house, unable to get through flames and so went outside to try to get to them another way. You just don't know so keep your ignorant thoughts to yourself.

8. Dww Feb. 10, 2011 | 2:17 p.m. Report Abuse

   Crystal, you were an angel here on earth and I'm sure there is a special place for you in heaven. As for the mother of those children, they are better off in God's hands than this selfish (save me first) woman. As the mother of 3, there is NO way, I would have run out and left my children there. NO way! I would die trying to save my cat, and I certainly would have given my life to save my children.

9. InyourmemoryCLS Feb. 10, 2011 | 1:58 p.m. Report Abuse

   I would like to fix my improper Grammar and Punctuation. Peace*^.
   
   I hope the fire marshall finds out the exact cause of the fire, but I'm am almost certain that it was caused by a highly flammable accelerant. The lives that were lost in this tragedy will never be forgotten and Crystals memory will live on forever, within me and throughout our entire community. Let us not forget how important the people in our lives are, take nothing for granted and learn how to say I LOVE YOU. I didn't say it enough, Crystal I love you. Rest in peace baby girl.

10. Pvhsgrad Feb. 10, 2011 | 1:51 p.m. Report Abuse

    InyourmemoryCLS, I coudn't have worded that any better.

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