Fire forces evacuation of 250 seniors in SW Atlanta

By Staff

For the AJC

About 250 seniors  were evacuated from the Baptist Towers  in southwest Atlanta Monday morning after a three-alarm fire at the high-rise.

The fire broke out around 8:30 a.m. in a fifth-floor unit of the 11-story building.

No injuries were reported, but three residents and a firefighter were taken to a hospital as a precaution.

Firefighters evacuated the entire building. The residents, several on walkers or in wheelchairs, huddled in blankets in the parking lot until MARTA buses arrived and took them to various locations. Atlanta Fire Capt. Bill May said it was unclear whether any residents would be allowed to return to Baptist Towers today.

Resident Jack Neely, 66, who suffered a stroke a month ago and uses a walker, described the evacuation as orderly. He and others helped a blind woman walk down from the ninth floor. Firefighters arrived when they were about halfway down the stairs.

"Everybody helped her until the fire guys started coming up and getting people," Neely said. "There wasn't any chaos. You'd have thought everybody would be hollering and screaming, but it was organized. The management here did a terrific job."

The fire heavily damaged one unit, while others sustained smoke and water damage. It took firefighters half an hour to knock down the fire.

The fire department sounded three alarms because of the manpower required to evacuate so many seniors, May said. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

May said the building's sprinkler system "did a great job of keeping the fire in check."

Located on Myrtle Drive, Baptist Towers was built in 1970 and is one of Atlanta's oldest senior living facilities. The building was set to undergo a major renovation starting next month.