4 hurt after gas line incident, massive fire at Dunwoody apartments

Workers were injured and residents were burned Monday afternoon after a construction crew hit a gas line at a Dunwoody apartment complex and it went up in flames, officials said.

The fire broke out about 4:30 p.m. at the Dunwoody Village Apartments off North Peachtree Road, according to DeKalb County fire spokesman Capt. Dion Bentley. Residents at the complex reported hearing a loud boom before thick black smoke began rising into the air.

The smoke was visible from nearby I-285.

Credit: ASIA SIMONE BURNS / ASIA.BURNS@AJC.COM

Credit: ASIA SIMONE BURNS / ASIA.BURNS@AJC.COM

While investigators have not yet confirmed the cause of the blaze, Bentley said Atlanta Gas Light was working on a damaged line at the complex before it caught fire.

Mekka Parish, a spokeswoman for the utility, said the line was damaged by a contracting firm working on an unrelated project. Two field service employees who responded were injured, she said.

Their injuries were not specified.

Two residents of the complex were burned, and one woman went into labor during the commotion, according to Bentley. They were all taken to the hospital, he said.

The conditions of those injured were not available Tuesday.

Red Cross volunteers are aiding 25 people from 10 different families who were affected by the “explosive fire that destroyed one building” and a slightly-damaged structure next door, according to spokeswoman Sherry Nicholson.

Amber Miller has lived in the complex since 2017. She told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she heard workers drilling in the area before someone knocked on her door and said, “You’ve got to evacuate. It’s a gas break.”

“From the looks of it, everybody is going to have some smoke damage. It’s really bad,” she said from the scene Monday night. “What are we going to do tomorrow? I thank God that, you know, everybody ... we still alive.”

Another resident, David Agadzhanova, said he was able to get his dogs out in time, but his cats are still missing.

“I feel bad for my cats,” an emotional Agadzhanova told Channel 2 Action News. “We have four and they are really almost everything of mine.”

Atlanta Gas Light turned off natural gas service to about 425 customers in the area while they continue to work on the damaged line, Parish said.

“Our crews will be working into the night to restore service as safely and swiftly as possible. At this time, we anticipate returning service to customers beginning Tuesday,” Parish said.

Power was also knocked out for several homes and businesses in the area, but it has since been restored, according to Channel 2.

— Please return to AJC.com for updates.