Apartment House Gone With The Flames

Mon., May 13, 1996

Compiled From Wire Services

The apartment house where Margaret Mitchell began writing “Gone With The Wind,” was extensively damaged by fire Sunday for the second time in two years, and investigators blamed arson.

The three-story brick building, which Mitchell affectionately called “The Dump,” was to be opened to the public June 30 after a $4.5 million restoration financed by Daimler-Benz, the German car maker.

“They torched this sucker,” said Fire Department Lt. Roy Awana. “I’m 99.9 percent sure that something was poured on the floor of the house.”

He added that firefighters smelled gasoline.

The midtown building was unoccupied and no one was injured.

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Apartment House Gone With The Flames

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