Apartments where fire killed 3 children cited for multiple electrical issues, reports show
ATLANTA - An Atlanta apartment complex where three young children were killed in a fire last week had been previously cited for multiple electrical issues, records show.
Documents obtained by FOX 5 from the Atlanta Police Department's Code Enforcement Section reveal the Country Oaks Apartments had numerous code violations during an inspection in 2024.
The backstory:
The fire broke out in the second-story apartment on the afternoon of Jan. 19 at the apartment complex on Fairburn Road.
Firefighters pulled the three children out of the apartment and rushed them to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment due to smoke inhalation.
Despite efforts by medics, the three children were not able to survive. The victims have been identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner as 4-year-old Jhacari White, 1-year-old Xyla White, and 9-month-old Xhalia White.
3 children who died in apartment fire identified
We now know the names of the three children killed after a fire ignited inside their apartment in southwest Atlanta. It's a story we first brought to you as breaking news Wednesday and the details continue to leave many heartbroken across the city. The mayor and fire investigators say the fire appeared to have started from electrical issues.
Officials say two adults were also evaluated for injuries caused by the fire.
On his morning show on Friday, rapper Yung Joc said that the children were his nieces and nephews.
"My family’s hurting, my brother's hurting," he said.
Dig deeper:
While the cause of the fire remains undetermined, firefighters believe it was electrical in nature.
According to the Code Enforcement documents, an official found that multiple apartments had no smoke detectors and defective electrical outlets during an inspection on Sept. 19.
The inspection also reportedly revealed exposed and uninsulated electrical wires, broken windows, and "deteriorated surfaces" in some apartments at the complex.
The inspector ordered that the violations needed to be completed by October.
The inspection came months after a fire at the complex in July. At that time, 36 residents were displaced.
"What we want them to know is that this is an urgent matter on our behalf, and the Fire Marshal and his team will be out here to check and inspect and make sure that it is up to compliance," First Deputy Fire Chief James McLemore told FOX 5 after last week's fire.
What you can do:
A GoFundMe has been set up to support the children's mother.
As of Thursday morning, the GoFundMe has raised more than 41,000 of its $45,000 goal.
Funeral arrangements are still pending for the three children.
The Source: Information for this story were taken from multiple records by Code Inforcement and previous FOX 5 reporting.