Ofelia Lara woke up around 4 a.m. on Christmas morning to a nightmare.
She heard fire alarms, heard someone in the apartment next to hers running downstairs — and when she opened her front door, she saw flames coming out of a nearby window.
She got her three kids, ages 12, 16, and 18, and got out of there. They were crying, she said, and she just kept telling them it was going to be OK.
“We are alive,” she told them, “no matter about the things.”
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
The family’s unit is one of four at the Balfour Chastain Apartments on Roswell Road that was damaged from smoke and water as firefighters worked to put out the early morning blaze. Sixteen people were displaced.
The fire appears to have started in the bedroom of a unit that had been sublet without the knowledge of management, Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday.
“The leaseholder has been identified, but we have not been able to make contact,” he said in an email.
The Red Cross assisted residents with finding alternate lodging.
Lara and her family have were put into another unit in the complex, and were in the process of moving their remaining belongings there around 10 a.m. Monday, when other families across metro Atlanta were opening presents. Only her kitchen was spared, she said.
“We are sad, but we can handle it,” she said.
Another overnight blaze in southwest Atlanta killed two people over the weekend.
Lara encouraged others to be wary of lights on Christmas trees or candles this holiday season.
“Be safe in your home and be alert. Be good people,” she said. “You know you can lose everything in one second.”
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