Eighteen DeKalb County residents, including children, were injured Friday afternoon in an apartment complex fire that forced some of them to jump from the building, authorities said.
“This is Christmas,” Ryan Horsham told Channel 2 Action News. “We lost everything, we lost our home.”
Crews responded to the 2300 block of Fairington Village Drive in Stonecrest around 2:50 p.m., DeKalb County Fire spokesman Capt. Dion Bentley said. His department extinguished the fire around 6 p.m.
Crews encountered flames and heavy smoke appearing from the attic, as well as the second and third floors, according to the agency’s Facebook post.
Seventeen of the victims are in the hospital and at least seven of them were forced to jump from the complex to escape the fire, Bentley said. Their injuries range from cuts to burns to bruises with some fractures, he added.
“Air fire rescued one by ladder; we also helped get people out of the rooms by the ground and stairs,” Bentley said.
Bentley said a man named William Cox assisted in catching six people who jumped from the building.
”He’s a real hero,” he said.
The fire, which started in one building and affected 12 units, was hot enough to melt and burn the side of the neighboring structure, Bentley said. Two units in the second building suffered fire damage, and two others likely have water damage.
Red Cross volunteers are aiding 30 people from 11 different families who were affected by the incident, according to American Red Cross of Georgia spokeswoman Sherry Nicholson.
“Caseworkers will continue to work with the families in the days ahead to help them get back on their feet and begin the recovery process,” Nicholson said.
Tangie Bellamy first became aware of the fire when she heard people screaming, she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She said when she looked outside, she realized the building next to hers was engulfed in flames.
She said it all happened fast, but her first thought was to try to help as much as she could, knocking on all of the doors of her unit to evacuate everyone.
“The building burned quick and fast,” she said. “There were a lot of people laying on the ground. They had to jump out of the windows.”
Horsham told Channel 2 that her sister called her at work to say their apartment was on fire and that they had no other choice but to jump from the window because the hallway was up in flames.
“She had to jump out the window, get the kids out and everything. My dog, everything,” Horsham said.
Credit: ADA WOOD / ADA.WOOD@AJC.COM
Credit: ADA WOOD / ADA.WOOD@AJC.COM
Fire rescue is continuing to use water to extinguish any remaining hot spots, Bentley said. Gray smoke continues to billow as at least 10 fire trucks remain on the scene.
Authorities aren’t sure how the fire started.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
