By Zachary Hansen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA — Snow was expected Tuesday across North Georgia, but many metro Atlanta families saw more flames than flurries this week. As a result, over 130 people have to find new homes.
On Thursday alone, 61 people were displaced after two apartment complexes in Sandy Springs and Clayton County became engulfed in flames, according to the Red Cross.
About 20 families, consisting of at least 35 people, were forced from their homes at the Laurel Park Apartments off Ga. 85 in unincorporated Riverdale on Thursday evening, the Red Cross said in a news release.
Earlier in the day, 26 people were displaced when seven units caught on fire at the Winding River Village apartments off Winding River Drive in north Sandy Springs, the nonprofit said.
Both Sandy Springs and Roswell firefighters battled the blaze, Channel 2 Action News reported. One man was sent to the hospital after jumping out of one of the burning apartments, and a responding Sandy Springs police officer sustained minor injuries at the scene. Both are expected to be OK, Channel 2 reported.
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These two fires come less than 24 hours after 33 people were displaced in a College Park apartment fire that left 10 families without a place to live, AJC.com previously reported.
On Tuesday, two other fires damaged three homes in Clayton County and an apartment complex in northwest Atlanta.
Two homes were nearly destroyed off Sleepy Hollow Lane in unincorporated Jonesboro around midnight Tuesday when a fire spread from neighbor to neighbor. A third home also received heavy damage on the outside, displacing 14 people in total.
Around 1:10 a.m., the Allen Hills Apartments at the intersection of Middleton Road and Allen Temple Court in northwest Atlanta caught on fire, displacing 23 people.
The Red Cross is assisting all the people displaced from these five incidents. The organization said it is providing emotional support and “assistance for immediate emergency needs like lodging, food, clothing, toiletries, replacement medications and other essentials” to those affected, according to news releases about the fires.
The causes of the fires haven’t been determined yet, and it’s unknown if the below-freezing temperatures this week have been a factor in the uptick in costly blazes.