MARIETTA, Ga. — Investigators are working to learn what started a large fire that raged through an apartment complex in Marietta on Wednesday morning.
The fire broke out around 11 a.m. at the East Cobb Apartments on Franklin Gateway, which is off I-75 and Delk Road.
In total, 22 families were displaced, according to Captain Steve Dau with Marietta Fire. The fire destroyed all 10 units on one side of the building's firewall and damaged 10 more on the other side of the firewall.
The Red Cross is working to help the families displaced find a place to stay at least for the next few nights -- until the apartment complex can try to relocate them.
Fire officials describe residents going door-to-door, ensuring other occupants were evacuated as they arrived. Thankfully, fire officials said no one was hurt.
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Marietta Apartment Fire | Photos
Residents in the building said they were shaken up after the dramatic morning.
"It was traumatizing," resident Shantrese Adams said. "I have three kids. They're older but my grandkids were there. Only thing we were able to do was grab a purse, I didn't even have on any clothes, we barely got out."
Adams and a friend who was visiting described popping sounds starting the night before -- sounds that would only intensify as the night turned to day.
"Something popped real loud and the next thing I know, I saw something red shoot across there. I went to the patio and looked in the corner and there was a fire there," Adams' friend Amarla Welch said.
Adams added that she's lost everything -- from clothes, work devices, and even family heirlooms.
"I lost my life," she continued. "Everything that I worked hard for, it's gone in less than 10 to 15 minutes."
Another resident Rubin Daniels said he escaped in his pajamas along with his car, his phone and his life. Now, he just wants someone to tell him and his neighbors how the fire started and why it spread so fast.
“I’m trying my best to keep it together, speaking to you, right now, like I really want to cry," Daniels said. “This is literally all I had. Just try to pick up the pieces. I can’t even figure that out right now.”
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