Fire damages one of Atlanta's oldest historic buildings

ATLANTA - An early morning fire damaged one of Atlanta's oldest historical homes Tuesday.

Officials say shortly after 3:30 a.m. the fire broke out in the attic of the 1840 Joseph Willis House, which is located on the 1500 block of Willis Mill Road.

The house, which was home to John Willis and his family, famously survived the 1864 siege of Atlanta by William Tecumseh Sherman and served as the headquarters of Brigadier General Jacob Dolson Cox. The general reportedly gave the house the nickname of the "bomb proof house."

The man who was living inside the home was able to get out on his own and was not injured.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.