ATLANTA — The Fulton County Government Center will remain closed Friday after a small outside fire caused a large amount of smoke inside the building on Thursday, according to county officials.
The incident happened during the morning hours at the facility located at 141 Pryor Street, across the street from the Fulton County Courthouse. The Public Safety Building at 130 Peachtree Street, SW and the Fulton County Justice Center Complex were unaffected.
Officials said the fire started outside on the Martin Luther King, Jr. side of the facility near the air intake units. This caused a large amount of smoke to be drawn into the air intake system, distributing the smoke in the facility. Officials originally said that the flames were coming from an elevator shaft but later determined the fire was outside.
County government officials added that although the fire was put out, there was still a lot of smoke in the building. They decided to dismiss employees and evacuate visitors.
At the time of the incident, 11Alive photojournalist Nicholas DiVaccaro was on the scene and reported pedestrians trying to walk into the government center being redirected across the street to stay on the side where the justice center/courthouse is.
"A restoration vendor is now onsite and conducting smoke mitigation activities, using air scrubbers, carbon filters and other equipment," officials said Thursday evening as they continued to mitigate the smoke.
During Friday’s closure, Government Center employees will continue to telework or be assigned to other locations.
Officials added that this closure would not impact the Fulton County Justice Center Complex, the Public Safety Building at 130 Peachtree Street, or other county facilities.
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