Northside Drive reopens after fire at NW Atlanta dry cleaner

Northside Drive was blocked for a few hours Wednesday morning while authorities investigated a fire at a northwest Atlanta dry cleaning business.

The fire spread from the business in the 1600 block of Northside Drive to the adjacent apartments, displacing a handful of residents, Atlanta fire spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford told AJC.com.

When fire crews arrived about 6:30 a.m., they found heavy fire and smoke coming out of the front windows. Most of the apartment residents were able to get out on their own, but Stafford said crews first made sure no one was still inside the building.

“Once that took place, they went inside and got a good knockdown of the fire,” he said.

It was the second commercial fire in northwest Atlanta on Wednesday morning. Award-winning barbecue restaurant B’s Cracklin’ was destroyed after fire broke out in the Riverside eatery’s barbecue pit area around 2 a.m., according to fire officials.

MORE: Award-winning Atlanta BBQ restaurant destroyed in fire

B's Cracklin' Barbecue was destroyed

Temperatures dipped into the 20s Wednesday morning, complicating firefighting efforts.

“Nothing too, too bad, though,” Stafford said. “Our guys are doing well. Obviously it’s cold, but they’re trained for these types of conditions.”

The fire was under control by 7:30 a.m., he said.

Utilities were shut off at the business strip and apartments while crews were on scene. Because of the freezing temperatures, Red Cross was called in to find the displaced residents somewhere to wait out the cold.