By Shaddi Abusaid, John Spink
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA — Several homes in southeast Atlanta were evacuated overnight after an explosion caused a major fire at a nearby pallet facility, authorities said.
Firefighters responded to the Pallet Depot on Sawtell Avenue about 2:40 a.m. Friday, Atlanta fire spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford said.
“It’s a business with a heavy load of wooden pallets that they move in and out,” he told reporters at the scene.
He said when firefighters arrived, about 60% of the warehouse was engulfed in flames.
“Our units reported flames shooting 70 to 100 feet in the air,” Stafford said.
Because the fire was so large, authorities evacuated nearby homes as a precaution.
No homes were damaged in the blaze, but the fire did spread to one backyard, he said. Firefighters also stopped trains from running on a track near the facility, authorities said.
No injuries were reported. The fire has been contained, but some firefighters are still on scene extinguishing hot spots, Stafford said.
The fire is one of two blazes crews are battling in metro Atlanta on Friday morning.
There is a massive structure fire in an industrial district on Riverview Road, which is north of Bolton Road and east of I-285 in Cobb County, according to Channel 2 Action News.
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©2019 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)