Fire Forces Residents From 20-Unit Apartment Building

NORCROSS, GA -- Residents of 20 apartments were displaced by a fire Saturday that burned for 45 minutes before dozens of firefighters could bring it under control.

The fire, reported shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday at Tuscana Apartments, burned away part of the building’s roof and caused heavy damage to 6-8 units, according to a news release from Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services.

It appears to have started by an electrical outlet in a ground-floor apartment, fire officials said. A resident of that apartment reported seeing sparks and hearing cracking sounds from the outlet.

No injuries were reported and most residents had already evacuated when Gwinnett firefighters arrived. But that didn’t mean the blaze was easy to bring under control.

Heavy winds drove the flames as firefighters worked to bring them under control. At the height of the blaze, which was finally brought under control at 3:02 p.m., about 50 firefighters and 15 vehicles and other pieces of equipment were deployed in the fight, officials said.

The American Red Cross was contacted to assist residents displaced by the fire.

(Photos courtesy Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services)