TRAVIS MAURER
11Alive
Reprinted with Permission

ATLANTA - Atlanta fire crews are expected to remain on the scene of a 3-alarm apartment fire near I-20 and Lowery Boulevard into the night.

The fire broke out Sunday afternoon at an unoccupied apartment complex under construction near Lucile Ave in the West End of Atlanta.

Hundreds were forced from their apartments at the nearby Ashley College Town apartments as flames got dangerously close.

Some residents like Tony Johnson tried to help out by pitching together with their own fire extinguishers.

"You had a lot of hot spots alongside the building that we were in so we just came out and were trying to get them out as fast as we could. They were just popping up everywhere," Johnson said.

Even fire crews found their trucks in the fire's path when they first arrived. Both an engine and a ladder truck sustained heat damage.

Investigators are calling the fire suspicious because it started in a partially constructed building with no power or gas. Residents say they saw a man running through the nearby Ashley College Town apartments and police officers chasing him.