WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — UPDATE: 10:00 p.m.
Firefighters were on scene within two minutes after 911 was called. Craig Llorance said he was walking to his car when he noticed flames and his neighbor carrying belongings.
"When I turned around I saw the flames shooting off his back porch so then he came running downstairs and was like call 911," Llorance said.
WRFD evacuated the building and turned their attention to the fire itself. Moulton said the building posed an issue because of the shared attic.
"These fires are really difficult to fight because once it gets in the attic it wants to spread through the length of the attic," Moulton said.
Crews saved about half of the roof, but 16 apartments are either destroyed or have water and smoke damage, but Moulton said he was pleased with the results based on what his team was presented.
Still residents were displaced by the fire and Ashley DeLoach couldn't believe what she came home to.
"My best friend called me up and was like 'your house is on fire' and sent me a picture. So I drove straight home and then I came here and I can't even get over here and I'm just devastated.," DeLoach said.
She's glad her family is safe, but now she's forced to figure out how to start over.
"Putting the pieces together and getting back into a routine," DeLoach said. "Just trying to find some place that's stable and trying to recover from all this because everything can be replaced."
The American Red Cross was on hand to help displaced residents. Moulton said the fire department has a good idea of what caused the fire, but it is still under investigation.
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Firefighters rushed to the scene of a major fire off Leisure Lake Road in Warner Robins Friday evening.
According to Warner Robins Fire Chief Ross Moulton, 16 of the units at Sandpiper Apartments are on fire, which spans two buildings.
Moulton added the roofs of the buildings are also on fire.
He says there are no reports of injuries or fatalities so far, and that firefighters cleared the building by knocking on every door.
Back in August 2018, a neighboring apartment complex also caught fire after a lightning strike.
