Two adults and five children jumped from second floor balconies to safety early Wednesday in a fire that displaced at least four families and ruined four apartment units in DeKalb County, an assistant fire chief said.
The fire at the Hidden Villas Apartments on Panthersville Road damaged as many as 10 units and sent as many as four residents to area hospitals, according to officials on the scene.
No firefighters were injured in the blaze, DeKalb County Fire & Rescue assistant Chief Christopher Morrison said.
When the first crews arrived at the apartment complex, “they had heavy smoke, heavy flame involvement right here on the front of the building,” he said.
Some residents already outside told firefighters they suspected people were still in apartments.
“What we later learned was that there were two adults and five children that actually self-extricated from a second-floor balcony from two different apartments,” Morrison said.
Joshua Shivers, one of the residents who jumped, said he wasn’t sleep four hours when he woke up tossing and turning, knowing something wasn’t right.
“We smelled smoke coming through the doors or whatever, and the fire alarms was going off,” Shivers said.
He put on clothes, then checked to make sure children in an apartment near his unit were safe. Shivers said he got two different neighbors and their children out of the building. He said it was a scary experience.
“My biggest concern was the kids,” he said. “I mean, you know, I thank God that I’m here, but I just had to make sure those kids were out of that building as it was on fire.”
The American Red Cross is working to help residents at the apartment get food, clothing and lodging over the next few days, Red Cross spokeswoman Divina Mims-Puckett said.
An investigator is looking into the fire but no cause had been determined as of Wednesday morning, Morrison said.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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