Residents locked out of apartment after massive fire in Marietta

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — After a fire displaced residents at a Marietta apartment complex residents say they cannot retrieve their personal belongings, even from unaffected units.

The fire burned early Sunday morning at the Elme Marietta apartments.

Residents describe hearing neighbors rush door to door to alert them of the danger.

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“We hear bang, bang, bang, fire everybody out,” said resident Matthew Beal. “And you look up, and you can see the flames pouring out.”

Beal’s apartment was unaffected, thanks to two firewalls that contained most of the fire to a middle section of the building.

After the fire, Beal believed the worst was likely over.

“We were thinking, okay, cool, we could get back in at some point. And that was not the case whatsoever,” Beal said.

The fire will likely take a lot of money and time to repair. Beal says the apartment complex told him to collect his belongings by Friday.

On Wednesday, Beal arrived with movers to find a gate with locks around the entire building.

“What do you do when your whole life is in one spot, and you can see it, but you can’t get to it,” Beal said.

Beal is not alone.

Channel 2′s Michael Doudna heard from multiple residents who say they have not been able to get their personal belongings out since the complex put a fence around the property.

The company responsible for managing the community made statements to Channel 2 Action News that do not seem to be rooted in fact.

Channel 2 Action News asked Elme Communities why they put up the gate.

Elme responded with the following statement:

“The safety and security of our residents is our highest priority. We have been closely collaborating with local authorities since the fire occurred. Access to the building in which the fire occurred has been restricted at this time by the directive of the Fire Marshal.”

Channel 2 Action News reached out to the Marrietta Fire Department. They said they never issued any directive and that the complex has been in charge of the building since Sunday.

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In a follow-up email, the Elme regional director said she should have, “used the term “strong advice” instead of “directive” of the Fire Marshal. As previously noted, the safety and security of our residents is of the utmost importance to us, and we take the advice of experts seriously.”

Once again, Channel 2 Action News reached out to the Marietta fire department. They told us they never gave that advice. Instead, they said they did the opposite, recommending that the complex not prevent residents from getting their personal belongings in the unaffected apartments “because this is what would happen.”

The Marietta fire spokesperson reiterated they did not advise the apartment to keep people away from their personal belongings and the department does not have control of that building once we left the scene.

Elme did not respond to a follow-up email.

As for Beal, he does not know when or if he will get his property back.

“Am I going to be out a week, two weeks, two months, am I going to be out of everything? I don’t know, I don’t know, I still don’t know.” Beal said.

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