ATLANTA — The cause of the woods fire that destroyed a large homeless encampment near Buckhead in Atlanta Wednesday afternoon is under investigation.
Nearly two dozen residents lost what little they owned. They ran for safety, screaming and crying, according to one aid worker who talked with them.
The City of Atlanta has already been working to provide permanent housing and support to hundreds of residents at encampments across the city, such as the community that was destroyed Wednesday.
It was a massive fire. It swept unchecked through the encampment, which was located on a hill in dense woods off of the I-85 and Georgia-400 interchange in northeast Atlanta.
One of the residents, Jerome, frightened and in a daze after escaping, said he was asleep when his own tent caught fire, and a friend woke him up, saving his life.
“It started out small and then it just started growing gradually," Jerome said. "It just was taking everything down.”
11Alive was at that same encampment this past Sunday. Photographer Darrell Pryor was working on 11Alive’s on-going investigative series on the state of homelessness in Atlanta.
While he was there, a fire erupted in one of the tents -- one of at least six fires on that hill in recent months.
Atlanta firefighters arrived quickly and kept the fire from spreading. But when they arrived at Wednesday’s fire, it was already burning out of control.
Tracy Thompson, with The Elizabeth Foundation, has been working with the residents long-term, helping them obtain necessary identification documents, such as Social Security cards -- documents that they need to get jobs.
The fire is a setback for everyone.
“This is traumatizing. This is traumatic,” Thompson said. “This is scary, it’s traumatic, it’s a great loss, the whole community is burned up. What little they had in life is gone. Billfolds, IDs, I mean, it’s back to basics, again. It’s back to the beginning.”
She delivered food, clothing and blankets to them on Wednesday, in addition to arranging shelters for them, for now.
Brandon, who lost his tent and belongings in the fire, works five days a week earning $15 per hour in a job that Thompson helped him find.
Brandon said he had worked hard for all that he lost on Wednesday. He’d been trying to save up enough money to begin renting his own apartment.
But he said the price of living "is horrible" and he hasn’t been able to find an apartment he can afford yet, even if he were to move in with roommates.
The City of Atlanta and Partners for Home -- with a budget of more than $26 million from city and state funds -- are slowly relocating residents of encampments, and offering support services. The immediate goal: to provide apartments for 1,500 people, like Brandon and Jerome.
Marcus Harper with Stepup, which is part of the overall program to try to end homelessness in Atlanta, knows everyone who lived on “The Hill” by name.
“We’re making steady progress,” Harper said, standing next to the burned and charred hillside. “It’s steady going, it could be better.”
A realistic attitude, he said, along with everyone’s relentless devotion to the mission, despite the setbacks.
So far, Partners for Home has provided more than 100 people with hotels and apartments as the program gets underway. And assessments of the needs of the residents of “The Hill” have now begun as well.