Crews battle 2 apartment complex fires across Atlanta
A large fire displaced several people in southwest Atlanta, one of two blazes city fire crews battled early Thursday.
Firefighters were called to the Abby Ridge Apartments on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive around 6:30 a.m. and found heavy flames from the two-story building. The complex sits near the intersection with Boulder Park Drive just east of I-285 and west of Lynhurst Drive.
No injuries have been reported, but several people were evacuated. The fire itself was contained to four units, Atlanta fire Capt. Andrew Anderson told reporters at the scene. But eight units sustained water and smoke damage, he said.
Firefighting efforts blocked Martin Luther King Jr. Drive’s eastbound lanes for about an hour. By 7:30 a.m., the road was starting to reopen.
Anderson did not have information on what sparked the flames. Arson investigators are tasked with determining that, he said, which is protocol for large fires.
It is not clear how many people have been displaced in that fire or in a second one which crews responded to about 30 minutes later.
At 7 a.m., firefighters went to a second blaze at the troubled Woodland Heights apartments on Center Street, about 4.5 miles north of the first site.
That fire was also quickly contained and no injuries were reported, Anderson said.
Linda Gaston had just taken her children to the school bus stop when she returned to fire in a unit not far from hers. She said she saw “smoke just coming everywhere, like through the vents, the rooms — the bedroom, heavy smoke.”
She added: “We got a whole big hole in the top of the roof from the fire. It’s busted … it’s damaged, it’s totally lost.”
The same complex was the scene of a fatal shooting just last week. A woman was found in a vehicle with a gunshot wound to her head, Atlanta police said. Durrell Dorsey, 29, was arrested Monday on charges of murder, aggravated assault and illegal firearm possession.
The complex is among 272 of the metro area’s persistently dangerous complexes, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Dangerous Dwellings” investigation that looked into serious crimes, lax maintenance and other hazards in Atlanta neighborhoods.
— Freelance photojournalist Ben Hendren contributed to this article. Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
