East Point apartment building destroyed by fire

EAST POINT, Ga. — Nine adults and a child lost their homes in an apartment fire in East Point Sunday night.

Channel 2's Ashley Swann spoke with residents at the Victory Place Apartment Homes on Chateau Boulevard in South Fulton County as fire crews battled the blaze.
 
Neighbor Bianca Duvall told Swann she saw the flames just after 7 p.m., and feared for the people inside.
 
"The fire was coming so close, I was like, 'Lord, get in the midst of that fire,'" Duvall said. "It was scary. I was scared."
 
Malcolm Wiley was one of those people.
 
"The smoke was too intense," Wiley told Swann. "We couldn't hardly breathe, so we had to run back out."
 
He managed to grab his dog, King, before running to warn his neighbors.
 
"I went knocking door-to-door, you know, getting everybody out," Wiley said.
 
Thankfully, everyone made it out of the two story brick building before fire units arrived. Deputy Fire Chief William Ware said fighting the blaze was a challenge.
 
"Flames and heat were so bad, we had to come back and do a defensive attack," Ware told Swann.
 
Smoke could still be seen rising from what was left of the building well into the night. For those who lost everything, it was a sobering sight.
 
"It's just a frame of bricks now, that's all," said Wiley. "All that stuff is replaceable, but a life isn't."
 
"It's just a real sad day today," Kenneth McClain added.

Channel 2's Darryn Moore said firefighters returned to the building Monday morning to douse a hotspot that sparked a small fire.
 
The Red Cross is now assisting the people who lived in the building. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

WSBTV