Atlantic Mill Blaze Contained by Macon-Bibb Fire Dept.

An historic building near downtown Macon went up in flames this afternoon.

 The Atlantic Cotton Mill on Mailey Avenue, that’s behind the Kroger on Pio Nono, caught fire around 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Crews from all over middle Georgia were on the scene fighting the blaze.

Witnesses said smoke from the fire could be seen all the way from JonesCounty. The Macon-Bibb Fire department battled the fire late into the night to make sure small blazes were completely put out.

When the fire began though, there was nothing small about it. Flames completely engulfed the old Atlantic Cotton Mill, a massive building, at more than 130-thousand square feet.

“Right now (around 8 p.m.) we feel like we’ve got the fire under control at this point in time. I’ve got the fire about 90 to 95 percent contained inside the perimeter of this structure here,” said Fire Chief, Marvin Riggins of the Bibb Co. Fire Dept.