If you were curious why there was an awful lot of smoke during your evening commute home from Atlanta to Decatur on Friday, here’s your answer.
Zack sent in these dramatic photos of a fire along DeKalb Avenue in some of the abandoned commercial buildings near the intersection with Oxford Place. One more after the jump.
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When I was in town two weeks ago, I marveled again at the potential of those buildings. Well, if they had parking and were in better shape, perhaps. I guess I can put that fantasy fully to rest. Glad Zack was at his studio and able to share this with the rest of us. Even seeing buildings on fire reminds me how much I miss being there.
These photos just break my heart. That building was my great-grandfather’s grocery store (Hamilton’s Market, I believe it was called). My brother and I had a plan to win the lottery, buy the building, refurbish it, and turn it into a gallery or coffee shop or something Dad would have approved of.
Is this why a police car was blocking east-bound traffic on Dekalb at Arizona on Fri.?
Seems a little convenient.
I was on DeKalb Ave. headed toward Decatur after work on Friday and was stopped at the fire station just past the McLendon intersection by the crew backing an engine into the driveway. Before they could get it into the garage they got a call and raced out again, heading east toward Decatur. Then while traffic was stopped at the red light at Arizona, another engine came roaring through that intersection, followed by a police car. As the light changed and traffic moved up the hill, we came upon the buildings, where the firefighters were just getting their gear on. The entire area was thick with smoke (couldn’t see flames yet) and since no one was directing traffic yet, we inched past the fire through the smoke.
I’m sure the police stopped traffic at Arizona to keep it away from the scene so the firefighters could do their jobs. And I am sure the visibility got much worse as the buildings became fully involved. It was a more harrowing drive home than usual on DeKalb!
Whatever the cause, hopefully something productive gets put in there. The pessimist in me, however, is resigned to the likelihood that I will be passing by an empty burnt out shell for years to come.
Was that where the original Gringo’s restaurant was? Seems like that building has been for sale forever
In the 1940s and 1950s, it was my great-grandfather’s grocery store, HistoryJoe.
I thought Gringo’s was where Fox Brothers is. No?
Yes, Gringo’s was where the Fox Bros. is now.