ATLANTA — Nearly a week after a massive fire at the Bell Collier Village, Atlanta Fire and Rescue said a large, unsanctioned rooftop party was happening when the fire ignited.
Fire investigators believe it started when someone put charcoal in a propane grill at the party.
In a news release put out jointly on Friday by the City of Atlanta and Atlanta Fire Rescue, Fire Chief Roderick M. Smith said, "The failure to maintain essential fire safety measures and the presence of an unsanctioned party with hazardous equipment underscores the need for property owners to ensure compliance with safety standards."
He added, “This disregard for fire regulations not only endangers lives but complicates our emergency response efforts.”
On Friday, attorney Jeff Shiver, whose firm Shiver Hamilton Campbell represent clients in premises liability cases, responded to the preliminary findings of the fire investigators.
"That is unusually strong language for them to use," Shiver said.
He pointed out that there are risks associated with apartments which are considered high density living because you have a lot of people in a relatively smaller, confined space.
He explained that you're not just vulnerable with what happens inside your four walls, but you're vulnerable to everyone around you and what they're doing within their own unit.
He said this is where it's the property owners' responsibility to make sure that mechanisms like the sprinklers, the fire alarms, and the communication with the fire department are up to code.
"These procedures. These regulations are in place to try and minimize when a fire occurs, to try to contain it in a dwelling and try to alert everyone in the building," Shiver said.
He said Georgia law imposes a duty on landlords to maintain their apartments in a reasonably safe condition.
In this fire, he said it's still too early to tell because not many details have been released regarding the specifics of what Atlanta Fire and Rescue was referring to when they stated the complex failed to maintain essential fire safety measures.
"If they (residents) can establish the apartment complex violated some mandatory regulation or did not have the proper amount of sprinklers or fire extinguishers or a host of different things that they’re supposed to do then there may be liability of the apartment owners and the property managers," Shiver said.
He said even if the property owner comes back and said they didn't know about the party, it doesn't mean the inquiry stops.
"It very well could be the apartment complex has no responsibility for the fire starting, but if the fire was able to spread -- as it sounds like it was able to many other apartments -- if there was some mechanism that should have alerted authorities sooner or if there was some type of construction or device that was designed to prevent the fire from spreading and it either was not working properly or not installed properly, it very well could be that the complex, though they’re not responsible for the origination of the fire, they are indeed legally responsible for the damage that occurred because the fire was allowed to spread," Shiver explained.
Shiver said while he hopes many residents had renter's insurance, If you don’t have insurance, you should reach out to other residents and consider getting together with a class action lawsuit. He said it can be difficult for each individual to find a firm to take on their individual case in small claims court due to the cost of fighting such a big corporation.
Shiver also reminded people to take out renter's insurance. On top of that he said everyone should itemize their unit because if a fire does happen and even if you do have insurance they’re going to ask for a list of possessions and the condition they were in at the time of the fire.
Atlanta Fire and Rescue is asking anyone who was at the party or has information on the fire to call the Georgia Arson Control Tip Line at 1-800-282-5804. You can remain anonymous.