What 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!