Condo residents scramble out in pre-dawn blaze near Oakland Cemetery

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An Atlanta firefighter was injured Tuesday battling a predawn blaze at a mutli-story building near Oakland Cemetery that houses condominiums and a couple of businesses.

The two-alarm fire broke out around 5 a.m. on the roof of the six-story Oakland Park complex in the 500 block of Memorial Drive at Park Avenue. Businesses is the building include Doc Chey's Noodle House and Foxgloves & Ivy, a floral shop.

One firefighter suffered minor smoke inhalation and was taken to Emory Crawford Long Hospital in stable condition.

Atlanta fire Battalion Chief David Rhodes said that while the blaze was “impressive-looking on arrival,” firefighters quickly had the flames knocked down.

“It looked like it was gone,” he said. “You think it’s worse than it is until you get up there.”

Rhodes told the AJC late Tuesday morning that the fire started on an outdoor deck on the roof of the building.

“It looks like there was an issue  with a hard-mounted grill with a gas line running to it,” he said. “The deck completely burned off the roof.”

Rhodes said there was water damage, “on just about every floor, but most of the water damage is on [floors] six and five. Three or four units on each floor with a little bit of damage.”

He said firefighters had to knock through the wall on one unit that opened up to the roof.

“Other than that, no fire damage to the units,” he said.

The water had also gotten into the building’s electrical system, and Rhodes said crews were awaiting an electrical contractor.

“If we can get the power back on to the building, we’ll be good, but if not, we won’t be able to occupy the building until that gets straightened out,” he said.

Residents of the condos just across Memorial Drive from Oakland Cemetery  said the fire alarms began sounding around 5 a.m.

“Normally, we get a false alarm about once a week,” said Blake Hodoh, who lives on the fifth floor, in one of the building’s 65 units.

Hodoh said that when he heard Tuesday morning’s alarm, he woke up and “thought it was a false alarm. There was no smoke or anything in my condo.”

He said he was taking his time getting ready to leave when “my neighbor banged on our door and let us know it was a real fire. I opened the door and the whole hallway was full of smoke.”

Once outside, he saw flames coming from the top of the building.

Bebe Allen, who lives on the third floor, went out on her balcony, saw flames coming off the roof and grabbed her cat.

“Smoke was in the hallway,” she said. “I was more terrified about getting my cat out.”

One floor down, Ben McDonald also rounded up his pets and evacuated.

“We’ve had false alarms off and on,” he said. “For once it was a real one.”

McDonald credited the three-year-old building’s construction for preventing the fire from spreading from the rooftop throughout the units.

“It’s a well-constructed building – it’s all cement – so I knew it wouldn’t spread that well,” he said.

Employees at Doc Chey's told the AJC that the restaurant sustained some water damage and had no gas service, but they hoped to reopen later in the day. Foxgloves & Ivy, the floral shop, had reopened by late Tuesday morning.

Atlanta fire crews were also busy before daybreak Tuesday dousing another blaze that damaged two houses on Howell Street, several blocks north of Memorial Drive in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood.

No injuries were reported in that fire.

Staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.