Fulton County family recovering after apartment fire: "It's life, and life is hard."

A Fulton County man said he's thankful to be alive after he escaped from a burning apartment building last week.

Sergio Sanchez was home cleaning on Sept. 1 when he said he got a call from his daughter. Sanchez, his wife and two children lived in a unit at the Aspen Pointe apartments in Roswell. Sanchez was the only one home at the time his daughter told him on the phone that the apartment building was on fire.

"I didn't think it was true until I opened the door and seen all the smoke and the fire coming into the building where I live," Sanchez said.

Sanchez said he grabbed a pair of sandals and started running out of the building.

"When I run the stairs down, a piece of fire just dropped, and it burned the bottom of my foot," Sanchez said. "I was just like, try to get out, you know. Fighting for my life, I guess."

Sanchez said people have donated clothes and essential items to him and his family. He said they were staying in a hotel but have now been placed in a new unit by the complex's owner.

According to the Roswell Fire Department, they received a call just before 4pm Tuesday to the Aspen Pointe Apartments.

"Units arrived in under five minutes to heavy fire and smoke," a post from the department read. "Firefighters evacuated residents and workers who were still inside the building and unaware of the fire."

Officials say three people were injured in connection with the fire: Sanchez, a police officer who was transported for smoke inhalation, and a firefighter who was bit by a dog.

In total, 12 apartments were affected by the blaze, displacing around 30 people, the fire department said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Sanchez said he and his family will stay strong.

"We will work to get stable a little bit, then we go from there and start over again," Sanchez said. "It's life, and life is hard."