Crews battle overnight pallet fire outside SE Atlanta business

Intense pallet fire outside Atlanta business

Heavy flames turned the night sky red in southwest Atlanta as crews battled a fire outside a pallet manufacturing and recycling business early Thursday morning.

ATLANTA - Flames lit up the sky in southeast Atlanta as fire crews battled flames that broke out at a pallet manufacturing and recycling business early Thursday morning.

Authorities say the fire broke out around 1 a.m. at the business of Sawtell Avenue, right off McDonough Boulevard.

What they're saying:

Atlanta Fire Rescue's Assistant Fire Chief Derek Hullander says rescue crews immediately jumped into action to get the flames under control.

"The structures were actually close. There were exposures, so we were able to get in and do an operation quick enough to cut the fire off and limit any damage to the structures," Hullander said.

He said the fire was in several stacks of pallets outside that towered anywhere from 15 to 20 feet high.

While the pallet manufacturing and recycling company operated out of the space, officials say the nearest building to where the flames started was abandoned.

Dig deeper:

Hullander said firefighters faced some challenges getting the blaze under control.

"We deployed handlines as well as an aerial unit to help extinguish the fire. We had some difficulty because of the long way off the road," he said. "We had some distance to cover to relay the pump from the hydrants to get water to the fire."

The nearest hydrants were 600 to 1000 feet away, and the crews had to contend with extremely high temperatures while they worked.

"It definitely is more taxing on us- the weight of the gear, the gear holds to your body gets hotter - but this is what we trained for," Hullander said.

Thankfully, no one was injured in the fire, officials said.

What's next:

Fire crews remain on the scene knocking out hot spots to make sure the flames don't reignite.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the blaze.