ATLANTA — Crews battled a massive fire that broke out Thursday morning at a building near the Morris Brown and Clark Atlanta University campuses at Gaines Hall.
Atlanta firefighters got the call around 7:15 a.m. and were on scene within four minutes, they said.
Firefighters said they used a defensive attack on the compromised structure and added that the second floor partially collapsed during the operation. Crews said because of the condition of the building there weren't able to go inside and had to put out the blaze from the outside using lifts and other machinery.
"It had previously burnt in 2015… significant fire so due to the condition of the building – this was a defensive operation the entire time," Atlanta Fire Battalion Chief Derek Hullender said.
At that time, the damage was so bad, there were talks of razing it. The building is one of the oldest landmarks in Atlanta and was originally built in 1869. It is located at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Northside Drive. While the building use to be owned by Morris Brown College, it is currently owned by Clark Atlanta University after a court ruling returned the property to them in 2017.
“It hasn’t impacted us at all. We have security 24/7 monitoring our campus. But you know it’s a bad day – we don’t want any of our former buildings catching fire," said Dr. Kevin James, President of Morris Brown College.
There have long been efforts to restore and renovate the historic building.
According to the Atlanta Preservation Center, the Italianate building was designed by William H. Parkins, the first architect to practice after the Civil War.
It is unknown what started the fire but officials said there were no injuries.
"It's probably at this point… they're not going to be able to do anything with it but that will be for Clark Atlanta to determine," Hullender said.
While Clark Atlanta University officials have not commented on the fire, crews said initial investigations show extensive damage.
Photos: Fire at Gaines Hall near HBCU in Atlanta
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