Firefighters extinguish blaze at vacant apartment complex at center of Atlanta lawsuit

ATLANTA — Atlanta Fire Rescue Department confirmed firefighters were working to extinguish a fire at a vacant apartment complex on Saturday.

A Channel 2 Action News photographer captured video of firefighters tending to at least one building at Forest Cove Apartments on New Town Circle in Atlanta.

Just one day before the fire, the City of Atlanta filed a lawsuit against the property’s owner.

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The suit seeks millions of dollars that Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said taxpayers forked over to relocate hundreds of residents.

The lawsuit is part of a class action effort led by attorney Ben Crump.

Atlanta city officials say the property owner of Forest Cove failed to maintain the location, making it a magnet for crime.

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Millennia, the owner of the apartment complex, has filed its own lawsuit against the City of Atlanta.

The company told Channel 2 Action News that it tried to work out a redevelopment plan for Forest Cove for a year, but that the city prefers a development plan for Thomasville Heights that doesn’t involve maintaining affordable housing.

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