Year in Review:Courtyard Marriott on Jackson Avenue Has Rooftop Fire

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The still-under-construction Courtyard Marriott on the Jackson Avenue has had a rooftop fire tonight.

The Oxford policemen and firefighters quickly responded, shutting down the road to put out the rooftop fire.

Oxford battalion chief Larry McKinney said, “We think (the fire) was just a flower bed on the roof, but we will be doing an investigation. Chief McKinney cautioned that “with all this wind, it is easy for something like this to take off.”

One of the hotel’s owners is relieved that the fire damage was smaller than initially thought.

Lee Stafford of West Point, one of Courtyard Marriott’s owners, said, “It is nothing to it, less than $1,000 damage. I about had a heart attack when I heard, but it appears that roofers somehow caught a flower pot on fire.”

Many Oxonians and Ole Miss students saw the smoking roof.

UM junior Integrated Marketing Communications major, Gustave de Laureal from New Orleans, said that it looked like the flames were “about 20 feet above the roof.”

Picture by Gustave de Laureal

Mobley Estes, an Oxonian, said “I was at Better Brands distributors and I looked up as I was on my way to my car and I noticed the fire. The flames were soaring through the roof. Oxford Fire Department did a great job by getting the fire out in a short amount of time.”

Picture by Mobley Estes

The Jackson Avenue was closed so the fire trucks could get to the burning rooftop.

Oxford Fire Department responded to the scene quickly.

The Oxford Fire Department is investigating for the cause of the fire.

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