ATLANTA — The American Red Cross of Georgia will open a resource center on Wednesday to help the people displaced by the Reserve at LaVista Walk apartment fire.
The fire broke out on Friday night and left the building charred and gutted.
Atlanta fire officials said Charnelle Gunn and Robert Stokes ignited the flames after they lit fireworks on the roof.
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Both Gunn and Stokes are charged with reckless conduct and criminal property damage.
“We all stood here and watched it burn,” resident Erin Abraham said.
She told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington she lost everything in the fire, including her dog’s ashes.
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“That’s the only thing I’m concerned about that I lost her ashes,” Abraham said. Her family has started a GoFundMe campaign on her behalf.
“The magnitude of this apartment fire, it has impacted so many people,” Jarrod Cochran, Senior Disaster Program Manager for the American Red Cross of Georgia, said.
Cochran said those who were displaced will be assigned a case manager at the resource center, who will help assess the need and connect them with proper housing.
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“(They’ll) link them with those apartment complexes and the property managers that are offering discounts,” Cochran explained.
Abraham said she is grateful and trying to stay positive.
“I have breath in my body, and I have my new puppy so we’re okay. So in that sense, I have everything,” Abraham said.
The American Red Cross resource center will be open between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Wednesday at 1955 Monroe Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30324.
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