McDonald’s marquee in Midtown Atlanta goes up in flames

The marquee sign on a Midtown McDonald’s caught on fire Monday morning, prompting employees to evacuate.

The fire was reported around 9:15 a.m. after an off-duty Atlanta firefighter called 911 as he drove by on his way home, fire Capt. Justin Turner said.

All of the Northside Drive restaurant’s employees, who were in the middle of preparing food, evacuated quickly after a drive-thru worker alerted everyone to the smell of smoke, franchise owner D.J. Mitchell said.

“Everybody is safe,” he said. “We’re just working on getting ’em over to different restaurants.”

The fire was coming from the sign atop the roof, Turner said. The building’s interior had minor smoke and water damage, he added.