Gas fireplace may be to blame for fire that ripped through apartment building

NORCROSS, Ga. — Nearly a dozen Gwinnett County families are without a home after a massive fire tore through their building Friday night.

Investigators told Channel 2's Michael Seiden that they are still trying to determine the cause fire at the Apartments at Olde Mill Crossing in Norcross but suspect a gas fireplace in the second-floor unit where the fire originated may be to blame.

Now, eight families are without a home.

“It was traumatizing. My heart was shaking. It was so difficult not to be crying or flustered. It was a lot,” resident Mara Edwards said.

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She told Seiden that she was getting ready to take a nap when she started hearing yelling from outside.

“We heard neighbors outside screaming and yelling and somebody came and beat out on our door and said, ‘Get out! Get out! It’s a fire!’” Edwards said.

Edwards said she and her mother grabbed what they could and then rushed downstairs to the parking lot.

Cellphone video that Edwards shot shows massive flames shooting from her neighbor’s apartment.

“The flame just kept getting bigger and bigger,” Edwards said. “The flames were big, tall. Like the tree started to spread over.”

“There was actually no one home inside the top floor unit where the fire started,” said Capt. Tommy Rutledge with the Gwinnett County Fire Department.

Fire investigators say the fire destroyed or damaged at least eight units in the complex, leaving multiple families without a home.

“We have talked to the owner of the apartment and she stated she was using her gas fireplace prior to leaving the apartment. She had shut that fireplace off. So, we are trying to determine if that’s just a source or the cause,” Rutledge told Seiden.

"We are grateful for our family and health. Things can be replaced," Edwards said.

The Red Cross is working to find temporary housing for those displaced by the fire.

Cox Media Group