Apartment building gutted by fire in northwest Atlanta

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Fire crews were called out to a large fire at an apartment building in northwest Atlanta Monday morning.

It happened at the Oak Valley Apartments on Neal Place near the intersection of Joseph E. Lowery Blvd NW and Joseph E. Boone Blvd NW.

Atlanta Fire Rescue says the call came in just before 6 a.m. First arriving units managed to quickly get the fire under control, but not without challenges.

“Usually, you want to fight the fire from the interior and get right to the seat of the fire, but when you have integrity issues and things of that nature, it gets a little too dangerous to do it that way,” said Anare Holmes, Atlanta Fire and Rescue public information officer.

The fire marks the third in as many months. Another building up the street, in the same complex, is boarded up from a fire Memorial Day weekend.

“I was actually here when that caught on fire,” said a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified. “I was over here, and you could feel the heat off of it.”

The same neighbor says there was another fire a few weeks ago in a different building. The property is gated, but Atlanta News First crews saw unhoused individuals coming and going.

The abandoned complex is owned by TYTA LLC, a company registered in New Jersey. A property manager says they plan to demolish the buildings and build new. They don’t have a date yet, because they’re waiting on permitting.

“It’s been abandoned for years. So, it’s about time for a new developer to come in and build some new stuff. You know, stuff is changing every day,” said a neighbor.

Firefighters managed to contain the fire to just this building. No one was hurt.