‘Saved or lost forever:’ Residents of burned apartments still waiting to retrieve belongings

ATLANTA — Residents living at Bell Collier, the apartment complex that caught fire on Howell Mill Road in Northwest Atlanta, are waiting to learn if they will be able to get back their belongings.

On Thursday night, Channel 2 Action News reported that the complex plans to put some salvageable items in a storage unit, but it will not be able to get to every apartment to clear out personal items.

Channel 2′s Michael Doudna spoke to some residents who say they feel stuck without their possessions, making it hard to know if they can, or will, move on.

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Raheem Plummer told Doudna he doesn’t know what he and his neighbors can do about the issue.

“I’ve never been this depressed in my life,” Kevin Holder, another tenant, said.

“It’s nerve-racking,” Plummer said.

Residents remain on edge wondering if they’ll ever see their possessions again.

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“My whole life is in that apartment,” Plummer told Channel 2 Action News.

Residents received an email from the apartment complex on Thursday saying a vendor will go through the building to collect salvageable property and notify tenants over the next six weeks if they have their personal items.

That means weeks of waiting for Holder.

“I was told to not have too much hope in getting everything back,” Plummer said.

The same letter sent to residents about the salvaging company told them that it is unlikely they will recover anything from apartments that were not provided temporary access last week.

For Plummer, that means he may not get the camera equipment he uses to make a living back.

“It seems like they’re going to demolish my stuff,” Plummer said. “I’m trying to stay positive, but the way they are making it seem with the emails they are sending is that I need to forget about everything behind me and move forward, which is a hard start.”

Now, the residents say they’re stuck, possibly waiting weeks just to learn if their possessions can be saved, or if they’ll be lost forever.

For the items that are saved, the company will take pictures of each item and require tenants to verify their identities to claim them. It’s unclear at this stage how people with nothing salvaged will be notified.

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