43°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Teacher, family grateful for support after fire

A local schoolteacher and her family are without a home after a fire destroyed their house May 8.

Lisa Combs, a fifth-grade teacher at King Elementary School, was in California on a field trip when she received a call that her house was engulfed in flames.

“I felt like I was in a dream,” she said.

The Boulder City Fire Department responded to the scene on California Avenue near New Mexico Street about 7 p.m. and found Combs’ home on fire. No one was injured in the fire that took almost an hour to extinguish, and Fire Chief Kevin Nicholson said a cause for the fire has yet to be determined.

Combs said her husband was the only one at home when the fire started, and even though her four cats died in the blaze, she’s grateful that nobody in her family was injured.

She said she’s received tons of support from the community, and people around the neighborhood have dropped items off on her temporary doorstep to help her family get through their difficult time.

“It really is amazing,” she said of all the support she’s received. “But we’re going to be fine. We didn’t lose any family members.”

As Combs waits for an answer as to what caused the fire, she, her husband and two of their children are staying with her two other children who live next door to their old house. Combs, who bought her house 10 years ago, said she doesn’t believe it can be saved after the fire.

Members of the community have already provided her and her family with clothes and food, and an account has been set up for them at the Boulder Dam Credit Union for anyone who wants to help. Donations are also being collected at King Elementary School.

“I’m totally blessed that all of my family is safe,” she said. “You can’t ask for anymore than that. I have my kids and my husband. It’s wonderful.”

The fire investigation remains ongoing.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
The bond between Boulder City and Searchlight

If you talk to the staff at Harry Reid Elementary School in Searchlight, you may hear them describe their campus as “the heart of the community” or “the jewel of the desert.”

Council gives lake-view lot to chamber

After a very short introduction by city staff and without discussion, the city council voted unanimously last week to give a 50-foot-square piece of city-owned land to the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

20-year lease extension up for vote

The gun club was not the only entity with lease extension business before the city council in their meeting last week.

Commercial zoning in Eldorado approved

The going-on-a-year-long process of adding four acres of land to Boulder City and approving it for commercial use is all over except the shouting as the city council voted unanimously and without discussion as part of the consent agenda to approve the changes to the city’s land use map as well as amending the zoning map to allow for future commercial development.

Out of this world: A look at Fisher Space Pen

In a popular episode of “Seinfeld,” appropriately entitled “The Pen,” Jerry and Elaine travel to Florida to see his parents. There, a neighbor, Jack Klompus, shows off a pen that the astronauts used in space because of its ability to still write, even when upside-down.

City council approves 15-home Beazer tract

Without any discussion, the city council Tuesday approved a 15-home subdivision as part of a single vote on the consent agenda.

Council approves additional $140K in construction spending

As part of the consent agenda in Tuesday’s meeting, the city council agreed to add about $140,000 to the amount previously agreed to be paid to GCW, Inc. for management, engineering, design and support services for two projects in Boulder City.

UNLV intern joins BCR staff

Beginning this week, the Boulder City Review welcomes Ian Cruz to its staff as an intern for the spring semester.

Metro officer involved in shooting in Boulder City

Dozens of law enforcement officers responded Friday, Jan. 24, to the 700 block of Sixth Street following a reported shooting.