Feb. 17, 2023 Battalion Chief Derek Hullender said the building built in 1869 was untenable.
By David Aaro, John Spink Source The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A fire caused significant damage to a nearly 155-year-old historic building in southwest Atlanta on Thursday morning, officials said.
Crews with Atlanta fire responded around 7:15 a.m. to a reported structure fire at the former Morris Brown College dormitory in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to Battalion Chief Derek Hullender. No injuries were reported.
The building, formerly called Gaines Hall, was designed by architect William Parkins and built in 1869, four years after the Civil War, according to the Atlanta Preservation Center. The brick structure is located within the Atlanta University Center Historic District and was Atlanta University’s first building. It later became a dormitory for Morris Brown and was returned to Clark Atlanta University after a 2017 court ruling.
A two-alarm fire previously caused damage to the building in 2015. At the time, fire investigators said the structure needed to be demolished due to the damage that left it unstable. On Thursday, conditions of the building forced fire crews to set up a defensive operation, Hullender said.
“Just concerns with building collapse,” he added. “The structure was untenable and we could not enter.”
Hullender said initially the fire appeared to be contained to one floor, but because firefighters weren’t able to make an interior attack, it was able to spread.
“It did extend to all three floors and there was collapse,” he said. “There were some additional roof collapse and partial wall collapses.”
He said three fire engines and three trucks responded to the blaze. Two additional engines were later added for “water supply.”
“Hydrants were fine, we just relay pumped because we were a little bit uphill and the length of the lay,” Hullender noted.
Hullender said the building would likely not be used going forward after the fire.
“Probably at this point they’re not going to be able to do anything else with it,” he added. “But that’ll be up for Clark Atlanta to determine.”