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Lavista Road reopens after demolition of apartment
Lavista Road is officially back open following demolition of an apartment building that caught fire.
ATLANTA - Lavista Road at Cheshire Bridge has officially reopened after being closed for 166 days. The normally busy roadway was shut down after a massive fire gutted part of the Reserve at LaVista Walk Apartments on Nov. 10, 2023.
Demolition of the gutted building began earlier this month. Crews hauled off about 800 dumpsters worth of debris.
The fire, sparked by fireworks being shot off on the roof of the building, burned for over eight hours. Two people were arrested in connection with the fire.
The owner of the property says they plan to revitalize the parts not impacted by the blaze and rebuild the remaining section destroyed.
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Aerial view of Reserve at LaVista Walk apartments
SKYFOX 5 shot these images of the Reserve at LaVista Walk apartments, located on the corner of LaVista and Cheshire Bridge roads, after a 3-alarm fire sparked by firefighters tore through half the complex. There were concerns of structural integrity on Nov. 13, 2023.
2 charges in Reserve at LaVista Walk Apartments blaze
Less than a day after the fire, police charged Robert Stokes and Charnelle Gunn with criminal damage to property in the first degree and reckless conduct. Both were booked into the Fulton County Jail.
Investigators from the Atlanta Police Department say Stokes and Gunn were shooting off fireworks on the roof of the complex.
Atlanta Fire Rescue Chief Rod Smith called the fire a "complete anomaly" from the usual blazes his department battles.
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LaVista Walk Apartment: Why did fire spread so quickly?
The Atlanta Fire Department wants to find out why the Reserve at LaVista Walk Apartments burned so quickly leaving hundreds of people without a home. Investigators want to determine when the building was last inspected and was the sprinkler system working.
"A typical fire will burn upwards, where you will have activation of the alarms as well as the sprinkler system. However, this one started in the roof, so it was a complete anomaly, and so, the systems will not detect that until later into the alarm," the chief revealed.
A group of residents has filed a lawsuit against the apartment complex, claiming the owners knew about the problems with the fire suppression system and other ongoing issues, and ignored them, leading to the tragedy.