An afternoon fire caused serious damage to a three-story apartment building near Georgia Tech.
Seven of the nine units at Centennial Place Apartments were destroyed and the other two have severe smoke and water damage, Atlanta fire Capt. Jolyon Bundridge told the AJC.
No injuries were reported in the blaze, which took more than 50 firefighters to contain, Bundridge said.
But residents like Jennifer Thurmond are stuck wondering what they will do next.
"Everything is gone," said the mother of two boys, ages 5 and 4, who's top-floor apartment was destroyed. "Standing on the street and looking up, I can see right through the dining room and the kitchen."
The fire started at 547 McAfee Street, near the Georgia Aquarium, around 2 p.m.
Thurmond, a cafeteria worker at Washington High School, got word her apartment was on fire while she was working, and rushed home, she told the AJC.
"It seemed like it was a forever drive," she said of the roughly two-and-a-half mile drive. "Until I was able to get home and see it, that was when the magnitude of the situation set in.
Thurmond said Red Cross of America is arranging accommodations for displaced residents through the weekend, and the apartment complex management will make apartment units available come Monday.
But she passed on a lesson for other renters ... get renter's insurance.
"You don't think it's a real big deal in the face of all the other bills," she said. "But if I had just taken the time to get it, I wouldn't be wondering now ‘ how am I going to replace everything.'"
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