Decatur Conference Center HVAC Unit Catches Fire
July 6, 2009 | 4:40 pmWhat could have been a very alarming story instead thankfully ended with minimal damage this afternoon.
Around 3:05p, Carl tweeted “fire happening in the rear of the Holiday Inn/Decatur Conference Center” and posted a pic of a closed Marshall Street. About 20 minutes later, Carl reported the smoke had dissipated and the street had reopened.
So, what the heck happened?
DM has learned from Fire Chief Dixon and Lyn Menne that an HVAC unit on the roof of the conference center had caught on fire, but was thankfully “contained to the unit”, resulting in no damage to the building.
Nice work Decatur Fire Department! We certainly don’t need to lose a building the city JUST finished paying off!
![Picture of the day [34]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4328709238_033fd33ecc_t.jpg "Picture of the day [34]")
I was sitting in Java Monkey when they went by. When they didn’t come back in 5 minutes, as usual, I figured there must have been a real fire somewhere.
This is what I love about Decatur. You can figure out where the fires are, who was mugged, and the best place to sit for fireworks without even getting out of your chair! Growing up in a different small town, my father would listen to the fire horn, figure out exactly where the fire must be from the pattern of blasts, and then bring the volunteer firefighters coffee.
I’m glad this was small and contained! I have much of my family arriving in town this week for the wedding, and they’re all staying at the HI.
Noticed this when it happened, thought for a second about posting or tweeting about it but it was just too anti-spectacular … Carl must have been pretty bored