NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — It's been almost a year since three people were killed in a North Little Rock apartment fire.
It happened last October at the Shorter College Gardens apartment complex. Some residents said they smelled gas before they heard an explosion and the fire erupted.
The fire marshal has yet to tell us the official cause of the fire, but the tenants are fighting back by filing a lawsuit against the company that owns the property, Millennia Housing Management.
Jordan Warren and her kids were in their apartment when they heard the deadly explosion last year.
"We had to get out immediately and just get our family to safety," Warren said.
According to Warren, the property managers moved her to a different unit at the complex, but it wasn't any better. She said one of the rooms had its roof caved in.
"They failed to do the maintenance in which they needed the apartments," Attorney for the plaintiffs Terris C. Harris said. "They failed to have the apartments in a habitable position."
Millenia owns several properties around the country. The law firm said they did some research and found similar issues at other apartments nationwide.
"We learned there had been another explosion in Jacksonville, Florida, where tenants did the exact same thing that the tenants did in Shorter Gardens," Harris said. "They complained about the smell of gas."
The lawsuit asks for $860 million in damages for the people living at the apartment, split roughly $10,000 each for the 86,000 tenants around the country.
As for Warren, she hopes to move out as soon as possible.
"I just hope that the children that are here, and that may have to remain here for some time, I hope that it gets better for them," Warren said. "It can be a safe environment."
We contacted Millennia for a comment on the lawsuit and have not heard back.