Residents displaced after Brookhaven apartment fire

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Courtesy: Red Cross

DeKalb firefighters are trying to get to the bottom of a destructive fire late Saturday night, which displaced numerous families in Brookhaven.

It was a fast moving fire which displaced families from sixteen units at the Oglethorpe Complex.

In video recorded by Jonathan Butler at the height of the fire, flames are shooting skyward and residents are scrambling to get out of harms way. Mr. Butler told me he could see the fire from a long way off and quickly packed a bag when he came home in case he had to get out too.

"When I walked in the house and sat on the porch I literally felt like I was burning and I was across the way," said Butler..

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Sunday morning residents were rummaging through their charred apartments, trying to retrieve what they could. Erin Cotter escaped with her husband and two dogs. Their cat was rescued by firefighters.

"He's now named Lucky Lewis. So he's in the hospital and he's doing well. He does have some burns on his paws." said Cotter.

She said 'Lucky' also suffered a burn to his eye. The fire department said everyone in the sixteen units effected got out OK.

"At the end of the day that's what really matters that no one got hurt," said Cotter.
 

Dekalb Fire and Rescue tells Fox 5 News they are still trying to determine the origin and cause the fire. At one point firefighters say they were hampered by people running over fire hoses. Police arrested 48 year old Michael Zamorski, charging him with DUI and running over a fire hose.

"He happened to do it in front of a police officer, who saw him. The police officer questioned him and subsequently arrested him for crossing over the fire hose which is against the law," said Captain Eric Jackson, with Dekalb Fire and Rescue.

The Red Cross has been called in for those that need the help. Anyone with any information on this blaze is asked to contact authorities.

Here is a video from a viewer near the scene. Video credit to Teresa Penley Sheppard.