The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Man hospitalized in Gwinnett apartment fire
No other injuries reported from early morning blaze on Sweetwater Road.
Rico Vasquez and his daughter, Margarita, sat down in shock near a pool of water outside a Gwinnett County apartment complex Thursday morning. Moments earlier, Rico’s son was rushed to the hospital after being found by firefighters unconscious inside their burning apartment, officials said.
Crews arrived just before 6:30 a.m. to the Park on Sweetwater apartments on Sweetwater Road after Gwinnett police officers were pushed back from smoke coming from a ground-level unit, fire spokesman Lt. Andy Lane said.
Firefighters simultaneously entered through a window and the front door, using a hose to combat the flames, he said.
Inside, crews found the son in a bedroom. The victim, in his 20s, was taken to a hospital but his condition was not released.
Lane said firefighters had the blaze under control about 10 minutes after they arrived.
“So a real rapid progression for them to get here and get the fire out and get the victim out,” he added.
The building was evacuated with help from police. Officials said the family’s apartment wasn’t badly damaged by the blaze, which did not spread past the initial room. Other surrounding units sustained only minor smoke and water damage.
No other injuries were reported, and the three family members were displaced, Lane said.
Investigators were working to determine the origin and cause of the fire, Lane added. The complex is located near Lawrenceville and a short distance from I-85 and Pleasant Hill Road.
About 15 hours earlier, firefighters were called to another blaze in Gwinnett at the Forest Vale apartments near Jimmy Carter Boulevard, roughly 8 miles southwest of Park on Sweetwater.
Tenants there initially thought a strange smell was coming from their oven, but authorities later noticed a popping sound from inside the wall and determined the fire to be electrical. Four units on the right side of the building were heavily damaged by the flames and water, causing 20 people, including six children, to be displaced.