‘No one expected a fire’: Augusta apartment building catches fire, causing total loss

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Families that live at the Highlands Apartment complex are recovering after a fire on Thursday.

One family lost a dog in the fire on Walden Drive but everyone else was able to get out.

“No one expected a fire. No one expected a fire,” said Olyuana Harris, an apartment fire victim.

People either rushed out of their homes or rushed to get home once they heard the news.

“I didn’t know what was going on all the way home. And then I got here and it was like six fire trucks in front of the building. And we couldn’t get close to the building and I couldn’t find my dog at first, but then I found him. And then after that, it was just waiting for them to tell me if my house was okay, if I could go back inside, or if everybody was okay,” said Harris.

The fire caused damage to almost the entire building.

“The neighbor directly next to them, there’s water everywhere in her apartment and black soot and smoke everywhere. This neighbor right here is like the fire jumped to their unit because they chopped their ceiling down. So upstairs, the ceiling is down in the back bedroom and in the bathroom. So and they got black smoke and all that stuff everywhere as well,” she said.

Her son has asthma and can’t even stay in their home because of the damage and smoke.

“Black soot all over the walls, the bathroom, the toilet, the floors, my couch, my bed, everywhere,” said Harris.

Even so, they’re counting their blessings.

“Through the grace of God, everybody got out of the house, except for one of their dogs. And their children had to experience that standing out here. And you know, wondering, ‘Where will I live? What are we going to do? I have to go to school so when will I get my clothes and everything?’ They’re gone,” she said.

They are thinking of their neighbors and trying to figure out what to do next.

“I just really feel bad for them and their family,” she said.

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.