Shawon Jones was sitting on his couch watching TV and playing with his cigarette lighter when he smelled smoke.
Jones thought the fire at his Parkside at Camp Creek apartment was coming from his lighter.
But it wasn’t.
“I ran outside, knocked on about five doors and told them there was a fire,” he said.
Jones was one of 28 people displaced by the Friday morning fire along the 4000 block of Seven Oaks Lane. East Point fire spokeswoman Renita Shelton said the blaze started in a downstairs apartment, then quickly spread to two other apartments.
It was the second reported fire at the apartment complex in a matter of months.
Resident Don Dell said he thought this time was a prank.
“I just woke up and was shocked,” he said. “I snatched my son out of the bed, smelled smoke and had to go.”
Dell, like Jones, was worried about his neighbors.
“I just didn’t want the building to cave in on me and my son,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Jones said his fire alarm — as well as that of other residents — didn’t go off.
“Everybody made it out,” he said. “I’m happy for that.”
In all, 14 families were displaced and eight units had fire, smoke and water damage, according to a release from the Red Cross.
Firefighters also battled a blaze at the location on Aug. 2. Thirty-three residents were displaced in that fire, which one resident said was a “close call.”
“If (neighbors) hadn’t woken us up, we wouldn’t have known to get out,” then-resident Ashley Jones told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time.
Residents in Friday’s fire are being offered assistance through the Red Cross.
“Along with emotional support, volunteers provided assistance for the emergency needs (affecting) residents such as lodging, food and clothing,” Regional Communications Director Sherry Nicholson said in a release. “Red Cross caseworkers will continue to work with the families next week to help them get back on their feet.”
The investigation into what caused the Friday morning fire is ongoing.
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