Massive Fire Rips Through Georgia Apartment Complex

A massive fire rips through a DeKalb County apartment complex leaving several families without a home. It took nearly 50 firefighters to put the inferno out. It happened at the West Gate Manor Apartments just off Memorial Drive on West Mountain Street in Stone Mountain. The fire is out now but it caused a lot of damage. When DeKalb County firefighters arrived on the scene at the West Gate Manor Apartments they saw a building completely engulfed in flames. Heavy flames were shooting from the roof of one building that houses 8 apartments. Massive damage. There are 4 apartments upstairs that you can see and those 4 apartments are pretty much totally destroyed, said Capt. Eric Jackson with the DeKalb County Fire Department. Firefighters say the fire quickly spread from one apartment to the next. It was a 2-alarm fire that took some 45 firefighters to battle it over nearly 2 hours. As crews fought the fire, they had to also focus on whether anyone was trapped inside. We had not received reports that there was anyone inside, however we were doing what we do all the time and that is to perform a primary search, said Capt. Jackson. An initial search found no one inside the apartments. Firefighters say it was an old building and they dont know if it had a firewall that could have kept the fire from spreading. Crews say one thing that helped the fire spread was the windy conditions. And you could tell that once you got to the scene that there were some wind issues, slight wind issues by the way of the smoke and the flames and the direction of travel, said Capt. Jackson. Firefighters say the wind wasnt a major concern and didnt really hamper their efforts. In addition to the 4 apartments that were destroyed, 4 other units received heavy damage. Crews will now begin the task of trying to determine how the fire started.