Massive Fire Engulfs Atlanta Apartment Complex
Bird’s eye view of apartment complex fire on 517 Main street in Atlanta GA. Source: https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/red-cross-helping-nearly-100-families-displaced-by-massive-northeast-atlanta-apartment-fire
During the late afternoon on August 19th, 2020, a massive fire uproared in a four-story apartment complex located near Lindbergh’s MARTA station on 517 Main Street in Atlanta Georgia.
After a whopping 10 hours of work securing the apartments, Atlanta Fire Rescue Department has determined the origin of the flames be from numerous H/VAC units located in the attic of the building. Although the exact issue correlated with the heating and air systems is still unknown, many surviving tenants claimed the models exploded after intense overheating.
“There’s one bank of HVAC units…there’s like 12 of them up there… and they all started popping and exploding and catching fire,” reports resident survivor, Mark Messer to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Although an estimated 90 flats faced debris from water damage, fire, and smoke, no renter injuries have been disclosed.
Source: https://www.apartments.com/avana-on-main-atlanta-ga/66cbv4t/
Whilst all apartment owners have been dispatched to safety, The Red Cross announces their assistance of temporary essential assets such as shelter, food, clothing, and health services to around 101 families: totaling aid to about 162 Atlanta citizens. Multiple victims of the fire retell their experiences of the situation and recall feelings of either shock or panic. In particular, resident Yolanda Quintero felt extra shaky during the emergency.
“I have asthma, so I knew I had to get out of there…I put on the mask, brought my inhaler with me, and got out of the building,” Quintero confirms to Fox 5 Atlanta.
As later revealed, in efforts to extinguish the dangerous flame, officials confirmed parts of the building to have collapsed resulting in serious injury for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department’s captain as well as various other firefighters. Cortez Stafford (the Public Information Officer for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department) announces the captain has suffered an extensive knee injury but is expected to make a quick recovery.
Reconstruction Companies and Red Cross support are continuing to operate in full swing in efforts to bring the chaos back to normal as the apartment flames have settled. For a closer look at the apartment’s destruction as well as fellow survivors, visit Atlanta.News.Now or 11alive.com interview videos (Firefighter: Cortez Stafford Interview and Victim Shaurya Garg Interview)
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