Buckhead hotel evacuated after car fire starts in parking deck, officials say

ATLANTA — Crews battled a fire early Monday near a hotel in Buckhead that forced dozens to be evacuated Monday morning.

Channel 2′s Darryn Moore reported from the scene LIVE on Channel 2 Action News This Morning.

Atlanta police and fire said crews were called out to Pharr Road near the Homewood Suites and Staybridge Suites at 4:30 a.m. Monday for a large fire.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Atlanta Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Ronald Slatton said a car inside the parking deck caught on fire.

The fire then spread to another car and construction materials that were in the parking deck left by construction workers, according to Slatton.

“They initially called 2-alarm because of the amount of fire that they first saw when they got on scene. But we did not use any of the second-alarm units.”

TRENDING STORIES:

• Wildlife officials concerned about invasive species of catfish spreading in Georgia
• Police: Store employee unloading bags into customer’s car shot, killed when rifle in car discharged
• Taylor Swift accepts Travis Kelce’s invitation, attends Chief’s 41-10 win against Bears

The fire forced 64 people staying at the Homewood Suites to be evacuated along with the hotel staff.

No injuries have been reported. Fire investigators are on the scene to determine the exact cause of the car fire.

Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was at the hotel Monday afternoon, where there was still soot coating the parking deck.

Hotel guest Aliyah Sall said she didn’t hear an alarm at all.

“The only reason we knew something was going on was that someone was knocking on everybody’s doors saying, ‘Get out! Get out!’” Sall said. “And then we hear the firefighters coming up the stairs trying to get everybody out.”

Guest Brian Graham said he’s been staying at the hotel for a month after a tree fell on his home. He’s now facing another potential disaster.

“I heard some commotion,” Graham said.” I heard a loud sound, a boom, and people were yelling, ‘Fire! Fire! Get out!’”

Sall said the fire triggered the hotel’s sprinkler system.

‘The entire first and second floor is flooded or has water damage,” Sall said. “The roof is leaking inside. The floor is completely flooded.”

Mims talked to the hotel’s manager, who said the hotel had some water and smoke damage, but the fire damage was limited to the parking deck.

Investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Atlanta community comes together to call for an end to violence after deadly triple shooting

©2023 Cox Media Group