Flare falls from Air Force jet, lands in Las Vegas yard
A flare fell from an Air Force jet as it flew over North Las Vegas late Wednesday, causing a stir among residents but little damage and no injuries.
Once on the ground, the object looked like an oxygen tank with a parachute attached to it, said residents in the 2700 block of Daley Street, near Las Vegas Boulevard and Civic Center Drive, where it landed.
Air Force Capt. Dan Dubois said the object was an illumination flare used to light targets. He said it fell off, and was not deployed from, an A-10 Warthog from Nellis Air Force Base.
Dubois said it was not immediately clear why it fell off the jet. "In a situation like this, we have to figure out what happened and investigate it."
Airmen showed up to clean up the scene about two hours after the flare hit the ground.
Deise Ferrano, 23, was cleaning her room at 2721 Daley St. about 8:30 p.m. when she saw a huge flash of orange light through her window.
"I didn't hear anything. I just saw a huge fireball outside," she said.
She immediately ran outside and saw a flaming object that resembled an oxygen tank attached to a parachute in her front yard.
Neighbors tried to yank the object out of the yard by pulling the parachute strings, Ferrano said. Others tried to put out the flames using a garden hose, she said.
Ferrano's niece, Melissa Rivera, 18, also was in the house when the object fell. She too described it as "a big orange ball of fire."
Rivera was very scared when she saw it, because there were several young children in the house and she was worried it might catch fire.
At least 100 people gathered to watch the spectacle.
Roger Martinez was driving in Summerlin around Rampart Boulevard and U.S. Highway 95 when he saw a flaming ball dropping from the sky.
"I thought it was an airplane," he said. "We called 911 from our car, but I am sure everyone and their mother did too."
Authorities closed off Daley Street as a precaution.
It seemed like the sirens from emergency vehicles were already on their way before the object hit the ground, said Athena Melonas, who was on her way home from work.
"I was walking down the street, and I looked up because I could hear the jets, and I saw a huge ball of light," the 36-year-old said. "I froze. I stopped. I couldn't figure out if it was coming my way or flying the opposite way."
It took less than 30 seconds from the time Melonas looked up until the time it hit the ground, she said. Other witnesses said it was in the air for as long as two minutes.
"When it hit, there was this huge amount of smoke. I don't want to say it was an explosion. But you knew it hit. The jet was circling over it the whole time.
"It was a peculiar noise," the object made as it descended, Melonas said. "My heart won't stop racing. That was scary."
Daley Street resident Jennie Crawford said she was in her house when she heard an explosion.
"It sounded like a bomb," she said.
Police officers rushed in, cordoned off the street and ordered everyone back into their homes.
"They told us we must go inside, because they didn't know if it was safe to breathe," Crawford said.
