ATLANTA — Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed an investigation is underway to determine whether the Reserve at Lavista Walk apartments in Northeast Atlanta were up to code at the time of Friday’s massive fire.
“I’m just here,” said Kayla Scott, who was displaced by the fire.
Scott lost everything in the fire. She now sleeps in the back of her hair studio.
“I lost everything. I don’t have a toothbrush,” Scott told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington.
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Scott said she knew something was wrong Friday night when she heard strange sounds from the rooftop.
“I kept hearing some banging. The first one was like a boom,” Scott explained.
Atlanta fire officials said Charnelle Gunn and Robert Stokes ignited the flames after they lit fireworks on the roof.
Both Gunn and Stokes are charged with reckless conduct and criminal property damage.
This weekend Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum told Channel 2 Action News that an Atlanta police officer lived at the complex and lost all of his possessions and his pet cat.
“Unfortunately, one of our own was impacted by this fire,” said Chief Darin Schierbaum.
Officials told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington the damage to the building is so extensive that investigators are now assessing the integrity of the structure and whether the building was up to code.
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“[They’re doing] some investigations and assessment of where we are and how we got there AND If it’s going to be stable enough to be brought back up or will it collapse,” " said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
Scott said that now, she has to focus on rebuilding.
“It’s just the reality that that’s it, it’s gone, and I have to start over,” Scott said.
She said while her sons stay with their father, she is focused on rebuilding her life.
Monday, Washington asked Scott if she had anything to say to the suspects in the case.
“I would just want to tell them that they hurt some kids. Destroyed some futures,” she said. “We can always rebuild but it’s going to be a struggle to get there.”
Scott said she does not have renter’s insurance.
To donate to her GoFundme account, click here.
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