Atlanta fire officials will not be able to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a 140-year-old building formerly on Morris Brown College’s campus, officials said Monday.
The former Gaines Hall dormitory is too unsafe to enter and investigate, said Janet Ward, spokeswoman for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.
The building was vacant when it caught fire Thursday night. The only injury was suffered by a firefighter who hurt an ankle.
The structure poses a danger to pedestrians and drivers along nearby Northside Drive and should be torn down, fire officials have concluded, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency and owner of the building, said it will need to do a full assessment of the damage before it is razed.
The former honors dormitory was sold earlier this year to Invest Atlanta and Friendship Baptist Church for $14.7 million as part of Morris Brown’s bankruptcy court proceedings. The college agreed to sell 26 acres of property and buildings to the two groups.
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