Squatters may have caused fire at Athens apartment complex

By Joe Johnson

Squatters possibly are to blame for a fire early Sunday morning at Cascades on the River apartments on Sycamore Drive off West Broad Street.

No one was injured during the incident, and officials said that the fire was limited to a vacant apartment where a mattress was found burning and quickly extinguished by a crew with the Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services Department.

Neighbors reported that they hadn’t seen the apartment’s occupants for several months and that squatters might have been staying there, according to department spokesman Adam Gardner.

Although no victims were found, he said a tenant living above the fire asked for assistance from Red Cross volunteers due to smoke exposure.

Neighbors provided police with descriptions of the apartment’s tenant and suspected squatters.