Sydney Martinez, Campus Carrier news editor

Roxanne Gasana, Campus Carrier staff writer

Rome’s historic courthouse, built in 1892, caught fire at 2:12 p.m on Monday. The entirity of the building’s interior was gutted  in the blaze, and its bell tower collapsed later that afternoon. 

Rome Fire Department remained at the scene overnight to ensure the fire was fully put out. Winds at 25 to 30 miles per hour, according to 11 Alive, aggravated the fire, delaying its being put out. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The courthouse was undergoing renovations that began on Feb. 3, according to the Floyd County official website. Work on the brick and gutters began on March 10.

Rome residents and downtown visitors gathered to watch and record as the courthouse roof was engulfed in flames.

Sophomore Allison Garrett, who was at the scene, described how the fire appeared to spread quickly from the moment she saw smoke.

“I noticed people hurrying past me and others standing still taking photos,” said Garrett. “It seemed like the flames went up in minutes. When I first looked over, there was lots of smoke, but the next time I looked up, there were more flames.”

Garrett said the area around the courthouse was eerily quiet during the fire. 

“It seemed like everyone was calm and just observing what was going on,” Garrett said.

Although emergency vehicles quickly arrived on the scene, Garret said she didn’t notice anyone injured while she was there. The city has confirmed there were no injuries as a result of the fire.

“The only emergency vehicles there were police cars and fire trucks,” Garrett said. “I’ve never seen anything like this happen in Rome. I never would’ve imagined a building I drive by every day suddenly being so different. I was really shocked.”

Brandei Harris, who works in the tax commissioner’s office, said she was in the building when the fire began.

“One of those facilities maintenance guys came through and said everybody needs to get out the building,” Harris said. “We grabbed whatever we got and went out the door.”

Harris said she had no clue the fire had started until she looked outside her window, where people were looking up toward the courthouse.

“We were sitting in the office and we kind of heard commotion from outside,” Harris said. “A little yelling or whatever outside. We think it’s just people coming out of the courthouse, just kind of having their own little thing going on in the parking lot. I went to look and didn’t see anybody. Some people [were] kind of walking and they looked up, but it wasn’t anything like ‘Oh my God, [the building is] on fire.’”

Harris said that throughout the evacuation process, no one was told why they were evacuating. However, on the ground, she heard others speculating about how the fire started.

“I wasn’t told anything,” Harris said. “Just being out here for a while, we heard that one of the news stations had reported that one of the contractors said they were welding up there and that’s kind of what started it.”

The Rome City Fire Department did not disclose what caused the fire.

Floyd County officials issued an order closing the courthouse and declaring a judicial emergency on Monday at 6 p.m., notifying the state of Georgia and county residents that Tax and Tag and Title operations would continue online starting March 25 unless the court extends the emergency order. The signed order declared ongoing plans for the courthouse to reopen at a temporary location.