1 person dead, dozens displaced in East Cobb apartment fire

UPDATED, Tuesday 10:50 A.M.:

Cobb Police identified the victim as Thomas Alexander, 74, who was found dead in Apartment 226.

Officer Shenise Barner said Cobb Police is investigating the death and Cobb Fire is investigating the fire.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb Police Crimes Against Persons Detectives at 770-499-3945. Those wishing to remain anonymous should contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or visit www.stopcrimeATL.com regarding c

ORIGINAL STORY:

Cobb Fire officials said Monday that one person has died and dozens of others were displaced in an apartment fire off Roswell Road in East Cobb.

Ramses Rivas, the public information officer for Cobb Fire, said in a release that the victim was located inside a unit in the building that caught fire, and that 39 people have been displaced.

He said 29 units were damaged or destroyed, and that Cobb Fire is working with the American Red Cross to find housing assistance for those who lost their apartments.

Rivas said that crews were dispatched to the Hamptons at East Cobb (1523 Roswell Road) at 10:53 a.m., and arrived several minutes later to find the front of a three-story apartment building heavily engulfed by fire, with “flames through the roof.”

He said a total of 12 fire apparatus were on the scene and 50 firefighters responded, from the Cobb and Marietta fire departments.

Cobb Fire has not released the identity of the victim pending notification of next of kin.

The blaze was under control by mid-afternoon Monday, but police officers were preventing residents from driving beyond the gates at the entrance to the complex as vehicles were parked around the leasing office at the front.

Rivas said the cause of the fire has not been determined.

The Hamptons is located on Roswell Road at the intersection of Lower Roswell Road.

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