ATLANTA — Fire crews are battling a large blaze at the historic Gaines Hall building in northwest Atlanta on Thursday morning.
The building is off Northside Drive at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive near the Morris Brown and Clark Atlanta University campuses.
The 11Alive SkyTracker flew over the fire and captured smoke and flames billowing from the top of the building.
Atlanta resident Helen Williams-Bolston says she could see the flames and smoke from her home engulfing the historic site. The building, built in 1869, was the first permanent building on the Atlanta University Center campus. According to the Atlanta Preservation Center, the Italianate building was designed by William H. Parkins, the first architect to practice after the Civil War.
"Furber Cottage is what is burning and is attached to Gaines Hall, and how I feel about that is very hurtful because they're trying to get themselves back together," Williams-Bolston said.
Gaines Hall caught fire twice before, once in 2015 and most recently, the Furber Cottage portion of the building burned in February 2023.
This time around, fire officials said they aren't taking any chances.
"It was a fire fully engulfed, flames coming out, so we know immediately before of the prior history with it to go defensive all the way, and that's why you see the ladder pipes. We have three ladder trucks fighting that fire defensively," Atlanta firefighter Anare Holmes said.
The fire remains under investigation, but those who live in the area believe it may have been caused by a person living in the vacant building.
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