Tenants escorted back inside homes more than a week after fire on roof of Atlanta apartment

ATLANTA — People who were forced from their homes after an apartment fire are finally being escorted back inside their units more than a week later.

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Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen was outside the apartments on Howell Mill Road in Northwest Atlanta Monday, where people have been waiting to get their medications and pets since the fire broke out on the roof on July 7.

People are being escorted back inside the Bell Collier Village apartments a few tenants at a time. Officials said the fire started after someone put charcoal on a propane grill during an unauthorized party.

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Petersen talked to Raheim Plummer, who just wanted to get back inside.

“I got my car back, luckily. They gave us our cars back,” Plummer said. " But now I’m trying to get my stuff. I don’t want anybody in my personal belongings and touching all my stuff.”

Tenant David Hercules did manage to get inside.

“It was really hot,” Hercules said. “A lot of heat trapped in there.”

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Kalan Wilson’s girlfriend lives in the building. He packed up as many of her possessions as he could carry out. He said there is a bad smell in the building from what he thinks is spoiled food after the power was cut off.

“A lot of people lost a lot of things,” Wilson said. “They probably still don’t even know. Definitely a lot of mold and things like that. A lot of people need a lot of help.”

Tenants said the property owners have communicated daily, but only by mass email.

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