2 Killed in Las Vegas Fire During Windstorm

A mother and her small child were killed early Friday when their house caught fire from candles lit during a power outage caused by hurricane-force winds that whipped through the Las Vegas Valley.

Two other children in the house were pushed through a window to safety by their father, who also escaped the 1:30 a.m. blaze.

The house was one of more than 100,000 that were without electricity for hours late Thursday and early Friday when winds gusting to 80 m.p.h. ripped through the city.

The winds sank six private boats on Lake Mead, forced dozens of flights to divert from McCarran International Airport and created havoc throughout the area.

The dead woman, identified as Brenda Saulter, 39, was found by firefighters who arrived at the family’s northwest Las Vegas home to find flames leaping out windows. She and her 2-year-old child, who was not identified, died after being taken to University Medical Center.

Firefighters said the woman’s husband, Earl Saulter, saved two other children before he escaped.

The area’s fire departments were kept busy throughout the night by a series of fires caused by candles or the sparking of downed electrical lines.

Guests at the Vegas World hotel-casino off the Las Vegas Strip were briefly evacuated about 5 a.m. when arcing electricity from the wreckage of the resort’s sign ignited a rooftop fire.

All but the bottom four floors of the hotel were evacuated for nearly an hour while firefighters attacked the blaze.

The high winds toppled the sign Thursday evening, leaving it dangling from the hotel’s roof and forcing the closure of a portion of Las Vegas Boulevard South.

Rob McCoy, a spokesman for Nevada Power Co., said power was restored to about 80,000 customers overnight. He said the company hoped to have power restored to most customers by late Friday.

Air traffic at McCarran International Airport was halted after the windstorm hit the area about 5:30 p.m.

Winds gusting up to 80 m.p.h. shattered a 15- by 40-foot window in the airport terminal.