Massive fire destroys Atlanta apartment building

ATLANTA — Fire crews battled a 2-alarm apartment fire Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.

The fire started around noon at the 771 Lindbergh Apartments on Lindbergh Drive.

The apartments are near the Lindbergh MARTA station.

Investigators said the fire started somewhere on the fourth floor.

"The fire by the stairwell was basically an inferno," witness Peggy Miles said.

Firefighters said wind made it more difficult to fight the fire. There was also concern about the water supply.

"We had to pull water from Lindbergh Avenue to get adequate watery supply on the apparatus we had to extinguish the fire," Atlanta Fire and Rescue Asst. Chief Chris Wessels said.

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Firefighters spent more than 11 hours on the scene trying to eliminate the threat.

Units on every floor of the building sustained fire, smoke or water damage.

There are no reported injuries.

Fire investigators are looking into residents' claims that they did not hear fire alarms go off.

“(We’ll) see what type of system this building had operationally, the ability of the system and, of course, our fire investigator is on his way to determine the cause,” Wessels said.

More than two dozen families have been displaced.

"My heart is broken for the families that I know that have lost so much in this fire," neighbor Melissa Echezarria said. "It's the holidays. It's around Christmas time. People probably had gifts for their children and everything, so it's a really sad time for this to happen."

The Red Cross is meeting one-on-one with affected residents to offer assistance.

Cox Media Group