Crews extinguish fire at historic building in northwest Atlanta

ATLANTA — Multiple Atlanta fire crews extinguished a fire at one of the city’s oldest buildings near the Atlanta University Center on Thursday.

The fire broke out around 7 a.m. Thursday at Gaines Hall off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Vine Street in northwest Atlanta.

NewsChopper 2 flew over the scene where large plum of smoke could be seen for miles. It is unclear what caused the fire.

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According to Atlanta police, the second floor partially collapsed during firefighters’ efforts to extinguish the blaze.

According to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, Gaines Hall was built in 1869 and was the first permanent building on the original Morris Brown College campus.

Gaines Hall has been vacant since August 2015 after a previous fire on the property. Clark Atlanta University took ownership of the property in 2017.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

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