Clayton fire forces out a dozen families

Firefighters saved one man from a Saturday night apartment fire that left more than a dozen Clayton County families without a home.

Clayton firefighters were called to Evergreen Apartments on Battlecreek Road about 10:30 p.m. Saturday and were told someone was still inside a second-floor apartment, said Battalion Chief Landry Merkison. Firefighters found a 30-year-old man unconscious and pulled him from the burning building, Merkison said.

Paramedics were able to revive the man on the way to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and other non- life-threatening injuries, Merkison said. The man’s name was not released. A 7-month-old baby also was taken to Southern Regional Medical Center and treated for minor burns on one cheek, he said.

The 16 units were left uninhabitable, he said. “The entire building sustained varying degrees of damage,” he said. “The entire roof is gone.”

The American Red Cross is helping relocate those left homeless by the fire. Investigators were working Sunday to determine the cause.

“They’re out there this morning,” Merkison said, “sifting through the debris trying to get a handle on what happened.”