71 people displaced after fire at East Point townhomes

EAST POINT, Ga. - East Point firefighters worked well into the evening on Wednesday, hitting hot spots on a massive townhome fire. 

Crews got the alarm around 3:23 p.m. after a 911 caller reported seeing heavy smoke and fire coming from one of the buildings along Carriage House Court SW at the Park at Galaway apartments, located off Washington Road near Interstate 285.   

Firefighters arrived to find a building on fire and quickly got to work, attacking the blaze from the outside. 

The fire caused extensive damage to the structure, burning away and collapsing the roof and gutting the interior. Other units received water damage. In all, firefighters say 12 residences were impacted. 

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Victoria Russell tells FOX 5 she recalled hearing sirens and sheer panic as flames spread through her building. 

"They was like, ‘The building on fire!’ We look out, it’s nothing but smoke, our cars are blocked in, the fire people just pulled up and the smoke—you could just see the smoke traveling through everybody apartments," she said. 

While at the scene, a second building caught fire, along Windy Rush Road. Five units were damaged by the fire and water. 

"They ran out of water…it went past the firewall and then the whole building collapsed," Russell explained. 

She and other residents say moments before the chaos of the fire, they were shaken by a sound unlike anything they’d ever heard before. 

"We heard a big boom. We woke up and I’m like… maybe that was a tree that fell," she said. 

While the cause of the fire is under investigation, officials say it may have been sparked by one of several lightning strikes the FOX 5 Storm Team Live VIPIR captured in the area about 20 minutes before the call to 911. 

"We all heard it, it sounded like a big boom…it scared everybody," tenant Ashley Porter said. 

Russel says she’s just glad everyone made it out alive. 

"When something as traumatic as this happens, people need to take into consideration how beautiful life is," she told FOX 5. 

Officials say no one was injured. The American Red Cross says they were called in to help at least 71 people who were diplaced. They provided comfort kits and will help with recovery planning.