Filmmaker Lee Kameron says years of work are gone after a fire tore through the South River Art Studio in DeKalb County last week, leaving the building condemned and several creatives without equipment or project files.
DeKalb County Fire Rescue responded to the blaze early Wednesday morning. Officials said the flames caused heavy damage throughout the art studio, which is home to multiple artists who rent workspaces inside. Kameron told FOX 5 that cameras, computers and movie files were among the items he lost in the fire, adding that the cost to recover will run into the thousands.
“It’s difficult at this moment to even think about standing up. Psychologically, it’s traumatizing,” he shared.
Artists like Kameron, who lease space at the South River Art Studio, have begun returning to the charred remains of the warehouse on Fleetwood Drive, days after a fire devastated their creative workspaces.
Sculptor Jonathan Imafidor said he rushed to the scene after getting “the call no artist wants to receive.”
He described finding decades of vision destroyed and added “the equipment and the tools can be replaced, but the creativity that you put into those works … it’s going to be difficult to replace some of those things, and that’s really what hits harder.”
Despite the damage, one sculpture destined for Atlanta’s Freedom Park survived the blaze, giving Imafidor a glimmer of hope amid the loss.
Firefighters battled a major blaze early Wednesday at the South River Art Studio, a mixed-use creative warehouse on the 1300 block of Fleetwood Drive just east of Moreland Avenue, as flames and heavy smoke engulfed the metal building.
Crews found the fire already raging when they arrived shortly after 4 a.m., and the metal structure complicated their efforts, acting “as an umbrella … shielding the smoke and flames so we have to get in and dig things out to make sure the fire is out,” Fire Captain Jaeson Daniels said.
The hydrant was unusually far from the structure, forcing firefighters to stretch hoses across nearby railroad tracks and briefly halt train traffic.
No injuries were reported and no one was inside the building when the fire broke out.
Officials say the bureau of fire investigation is still working to determine what caused the blaze.
Kameron has launched a GoFundMe to help replace his equipment and rebuild his production work. Several other artists impacted by the fire have also organized fundraisers as they sort through what can be salvaged.
