ATLANTA — After at least three fires in the past six months, a condominium complex is asking for help from the City of Atlanta to keep it from happening again.
All of the fires that are happening around the Buford Spring Connector and I-85 northbound started at homeless encampments.
Residents at the Cedar Chase condos and many told Channel 2’s Michael Doudna that these problems are not new.
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“You know, seeing a fire in the back, back of the yard, not fun to watch,” Cory Knopp said.
“It’s definitely frustrating, not something that you want to see in a neighborhood where you raise a young daughter, and we’ve got a park right by where there could be a potential blaze,” Chris Metkin said.
A fire on Friday is at least the third in the last six months. Neighbors say the homeless encampments built up near the nature preserve are to blame.
“It’s a weekly, daily situation,” Cedar Chase HOA president Errin Thomas said.
Thomas says the complex has been pushing for changes for years.
“That’s the problem,” he said. “Nobody’s really taking responsibility for this.”
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So, Channel 2 Action News reached out to the city for answers.
They say the path goes through multiple pieces of private property that limit their ability to remove encampments there.
“The homeless problem is not the private property’s problem. That is a city problem,” Thomas said.
Thomas and his neighbors say they have made call after call and just want someone to take responsibility so their homes are not at risk of the next fire.
The city did get permission from the different property owners on Monday and went and cleaned up the area. Eventually, they say, it will fall on each individual property owner to maintain their space.
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