The latest fire at the notorious Brannon Hill condos outside Clarkston affected 40 people, the American Red Cross announced Friday morning.
“A team of Red Cross volunteers is assisting (40) residents following a fire at the Brannon Hill condos that affected 8 units,” spokeswoman Divina Mims Puckett said in an email. “Volunteers will be meeting one-on-one with those displaced to help meet emergency needs for essentials such as shelter, food, clothing and replacement prescriptions.”
Capt. Eric Jackson of the DeKalb County fire department said the cause of the fire wasn’t yet known late Friday morning. There were no injuries.
The fire is one in a long line of blazes to tear through the complex, which is a notorious (and extreme) emblem of issues of blight, crime and poverty in some pockets of metro Atlanta and DeKalb.
The condos, near Memorial Drive, have been falling apart and plagued by crime and squatters for years. The county government's efforts to hold property owners accountable has been made difficult because a number of them couldn't be found.
The county sued earlier this year to seek permission to intervene, and Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams issued a Nov. 15 order clearing the way for DeKalb to tear part of the complex down if the owners don't.
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