16 Displaced, 1 Hospitalized After MUST Ministries Apartment Fire

MARIETTA, GA — Sixteen people were displaced and one person was hospitalized after a fire ripped through eight apartments owned by MUST Ministries and serving as a homeless ministry, authorities said.

Around 8:45 p.m. Monday night, Cobb County firefighters responded to a fire at the Shepherd's Walk apartment complex on Osborne Road, and flames could be seen coming from the second floor, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The fire burned through the roof and upstairs apartments.

Those apartments housed 16 MUST Ministries clients who have disabilities and were once homeless, the Marietta Daily Journal reported. All 16 were accounted for, and one was taken to the hospital due to smoke inhalation. The Red Cross and the MUST team put the others in a hotel.

“For those 16 people, they’ve already gone through the trauma of being homeless, and now they’ve got to turn around and try to regroup their lives after losing everything,” MUST Ministries president and CEO Ike Reighard told WSB-TV.

The building will be uninhabitable for several months for cleanup and restoration, MUST Ministries leaders said. To donate to victims of the fire, visit MUSTMinistrires.org, click "donate" and then designate the donation to MUST Fire Fund in the comments.

Donations will help cover the costs for medications, hotel rooms, toiletries, food and other personal items for the displaced residents, Reighard said in a news release.