5 Die, Dozens Hurt in Fire in Atlanta Office Building

A fire touched off by a series of explosions sent choking smoke through a 10-story office building Friday, killing five people and injuring dozens. Terrified workers smashed windows with chairs, and one woman jumped from the sixth floor.

Many people escaped by climbing onto firefighters’ ladders.

About 200 people, many of them rescued office workers with soot-blackened clothing and skin, gathered on the street outside the Peachtree 25th Building. Some sat breathing from oxygen masks.

Witnesses said the fire in the south tower of the black-glass building was preceded by a series of loud explosions on the sixth floor.

Officials said firefighters were hampered by workers who panicked.

Jumped From Sixth Floor

One woman who jumped from a sixth-floor window was critically injured, said Sandra Walker, a spokeswoman for Mayor Andrew Young. The woman, one of 38 people taken to hospitals, was not immediately identified, although Piedmont Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Kelley said she suffered two broken legs, a fractured ankle and hand injuries. Some of the others injured were treated for burns, smoke inhalation and cardiac arrest.

Five of the injured were firefighters, four of whom suffered smoke inhalation and one who burned his hands, Walker said.

The fire apparently was started by an explosion that occurred when a fuse was being repaired 30 minutes after a power failure. The building was constructed in 1962, before the city required indoor sprinklers.

The blaze began on the sixth floor but spread two floors below and one above, Walker said.

Tom Perrin, acting Atlanta fire chief, said several firefighters and private citizens would receive commendations for heroism. One man, identified as James Blackman, went into the building and carried five women out, burning his back in the process, Walker said.

The names of the dead were not immediately available. Damage estimates were not expected before today.