LOVELOCK - A house fire that threatened the lives of three family members at the Lovelock Paiute Tribe remained under investigation this week by local and federal law enforcement and county fire officials.
At around 2 a.m. on July 4, Gabriel Bourne, his wife April and their 11-year-old son Gabriel Jr. were sleeping when fire broke out on the exterior of their home at 216 Bowean St., according to the family's account of the event. After they were alerted to the danger by neighbors and their two barking dogs, the family escaped the building without serious injuries but suffered smoke inhalation as heavy smoke poured into the structure.
Bourne and a neighbor attacked the blaze with garden hoses as another neighbor immediately called 911. The men managed to douse the flames before they could spread beyond a front corner and on the opposite side of the house. Bourne said he took a fall and was slightly injured while fighting the blaze.
April Bourne said Lovelock Police Chief Mike Mancebo was first to arrive on the fire scene and used a fire extinguisher to help douse the flames.
Members of the Lovelock Volunteer Fire Department also responded and extinguished remaining hot spots.
Later that day, Gabriel, Jr., who suffers from asthma, was taken by his parents to a Reno hospital emergency room after he had trouble breathing, April Bourne said. The family had driven to Reno to celebrate the Fourth of July as they had promised the boy. At the hospital, Gabriel received a chest X-ray and medicine inhalers, his mother said.
"The smoke inhalation is affecting his asthma that was under control until now," Bourne said.
The fire blackened one corner of the wooden house to the roof line. Bourne said the roof appears to be undamaged but he'll need to replace the damaged corner and at least one of the windows. The flames also damaged a telephone line and destroyed personal items outside the home, including his son's bicycle.
Scorch marks on the opposite side of the home indicate there were other flames threatening the structure.
Neighbors and the family's dogs Shadow and Precious may have saved the lives of her family, April Bourne said.
On Monday, Lovelock fire investigator Charlie Brockway said the fire's cause is still under investigation. Soon after the fire, he examined the damage and has taken soil samples at the scene. The samples were sent to the Washoe County Crime Lab in
Reno for analysis and Brockway is waiting for the results. He'll be conducting more interviews before making a final report on the investigation.
"My job is to find the origin and the cause of the fire," Brockway said. "I still have to talk to everybody involved before I make a final conclusion."
He explained that includes the victims, possible witnesses and anyone else who may decide to speak up. After the interviews and lab results are in, Brockway said he'll then determine if the fire's cause was "natural, human or unknown."
Brockway estimated damage to the home at $10,000.
Paiute Tribal Police Chief Karl Fredericks said the felony is under investigation by his agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Western Nevada Agency in Carson City and the FBI.
"We take the lead but this is a major felony investigation," Fredericks said last week.
Molly Hernandez, a criminal investigator for the B.I.A. in Carson City, referred media questions to the agency's Office of Justice Services in Phoenix. B.I.A. Special Agent Warren Youngman could not be reached for comment this week.
Fredericks thanked other local agencies for their assistance at the scene of the fire.
"We were fortunate to have the response from the Lovelock Fire Department plus the Lovelock police and the Pershing County Sheriff's Department," he said.
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