A large fire engulfed an abandoned building near a busy DeKalb County shopping center and shut down a major road Tuesday night.
The fire could be seen shooting flames and thick, black smoke into the air from the structure at the edge of the Toco Hills shopping center on North Druid Hills Road, DeKalb Fire Captain Dion Bentley confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The building used to house a business called Reggie’s Hairstyling but has sat empty and graffitied for many years.
#BREAKING A large structure fire in DeKalb County has North Druid Hills Rd closed between Clairmont Rd and Lavista Rd. Traffic is detoured. Use those or Houston Mill as alternates. @wsbradio @wsbtv #ATLtraffic pic.twitter.com/NOVHWISnA8
— Alex Williams (@AlexWilliamsWSB) July 14, 2021
Crews arriving at 9 p.m. had to go into defensive mode to knock down the flames, fire officials said. North Druid Hills Road was shut down between Lavista and Clairmont roads while firefighting efforts were underway.
Once the fire was out, officials were able to confirm the building was vacant. No injuries were reported.
July 13, 2021 @9:00pm DeKalb fire units responded to a reported business fire at the intersection of N. Druid Hills Rd...
Posted by Dekalb County Fire Rescue Department on Tuesday, July 13, 2021
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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