A New Year's Day fire has devastated an apartment complex in Brookhaven, leaving many residents without a home and resulting in at least one injury. The fire at the Royale Apartments, located on the 3600 block of Buford Highway, started before dawn and quickly escalated to a massive blaze, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta. Captain Jaeson Daniels of the DeKalb County Fire Rescue noted that by the time firefighters arrived, the building had already begun to partially collapse, complicating their efforts to extinguish the fire.
One girl was forced to desperately jump from the second floor to escape the inferno, and was subsequently taken to the hospital. "It appeared the fire had been going for a long time prior to our arrival given that the building had already collapsed partially. It presented some challenges given that the hydrant was some distance from the building," Captain Daniels told FOX 5. Details on her condition have not been made available but she is expected to recover, as per information gleaned from a report by Atlanta News First.
Many of the affected units were vacant, raising concerns about possible squatters. Elmr Rovero, a resident of the complex, revealed to FOX 5 that he had previously reported to management about unhoused individuals breaking into and occupying vacant units. "Two, three months ago, I took to the office, and said that someone broke the door, and they are going in," Rovero explained. Despite these reports, the cause of the fire remains under investigation with no immediate indications pointing to it being fireworks-related, as determined by evidence collected at the scene.
While the investigation is still underway, discarded fireworks cartridges were found scattered in the parking lot, raising initial suspicions. However, Captain Daniels was quick to dismiss this theory. "Our investigators are here, but it doesn't appear to be fireworks related as it looks to have started inside the building but that's not to say it's not the case. But the fire looked as if it started inside the building," Daniels reported to FOX 5.
