Morning fire leaves smoky haze downtown

A structure fire east of downtown left many commuters in a smoky haze Monday morning.

The fire, near the corner of North Avenue and Boulevard, was in a boarded up structure, which made it a challenge to fight, said Chip Newell, of Atlanta Fire Department’s Battalion No. 3.

“It took a few minutes for us to gain entry, so the fire got a good headway before we could really get in there,” he said. “We had crews in the interior, but we had to switch to a defensive posture when the roof started to come down on the guys. But everybody is OK.”