DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Families in 29 units were all displaced early Wednesday morning by a fire at a DeKalb County apartment complex.
No injuries were reported, but dozens of people will now need to look for somewhere to stay after the building was left "inhabitable," as DeKalb Assistant Fire Chief Christopher Morrison said.
"We heard the alarm system, usually there's been pranks going on with it, so we thought it was a little prank," said a resident, Makayla Evers. "I asked my boyfriend to go check, he came back and was like, 'they said it was real.' We rushed outside, we saw smoke and flames coming up the side of the building."
Another resident, Justin Francis, said the flames were so tall it looked like "something you see from an actual building not from an apartment complex."
The Red Cross said it had sent volunteers to the Retreat at Stonecrest Apartments in Lithonia to assist the displaced people.
Morrison, the assistant fire chief, said the fire had started in a top unit in the back of the building. That made it difficult for firefighters, because there was no accessibility there.
"Crews had to go upstairs with handlines, work their way up and battle the fire that way," he said.
He added they were able to contain the fire to the middle of the building before it could spread to the outer units. Most of the damage came from smoke and water.
Morrison said, with the coronavirus keeping people at home, his crews were concerned about the number of people who were likely to be home and at risk.
"Naturally we were like, OK, everybody's home, so first priority evacuate everybody get, everybody out," he said.
They were able to do that, but those dozens of residents are now largely without a place to turn.
"I guess we have to find someplace we can go," Francis said.
MORE HEADLINES