American Legion building goes up in flames

TUCKER, Ga. — An American Legion building in Tucker went up in flames early Wednesday morning.

DeKalb fire officials said they were called to the scene around 3:30 a.m. to fight the fire at American Legion 207 off Pine Valley Road. 

Firefighters told 11Allive the fire was really difficult to control due to a few factors. 

1. The building has a tin roof that encapsulated the fire. Firefighters said they chose to fight it by spraying water from above. However, the metal roof kept some of the water from getting to the flames.
2. The burglar bars along the windows of the building halted the firefighters from making an entrance. They told 11Alive's Christie Ethridge that they had to pull those off before they could go in and fight the fire from the inside. Otherwise, if the firefighters got into trouble there was no way for them to escape.
3. The roof is a tongue and groove roof, which means they had to pull it down before they could get to the flames. 

Luckily, fire officials said no one was inside of the building at the time. 

Stay with 11Alive for updates.

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