No one was injured when fire broke out in the Chattanooga Bank Building at 737 Market St. on Sunday this morning - the second blaze at the downtown landmark this month.
The Chattanooga Fire Department received the alarm at 10:23 a.m. About a dozen people were on the fourth floor, where they have a worship service, when they started smelling smoke. They exited the building and called 9-1-1.
When Battalion Chief Thaddeus Morton arrived with the first engine companies, he called for a second alarm response after seeing smoke pouring out the second floor windows. Chattanooga firefighters made their way into the building, first to make sure all of the occupants were out. Chief Morton said firefighters found a few people on the third floor and all got out safely.
The firefighters found the fire on the second floor, and they worked hard to ensure that it did not spread to adjacent floors, fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said.
Of primary concern was the portion of the second floor that has a mezzanine above. On the mezzanine are several, large air-conditioning units and the floor below it appeared to be sagging. Chief Morton ordered the firefighters away from that area until representatives from the fire marshal’s office and building inspector’s office could inspect that part of the building to determine its structural integrity, Mr. Garner said.
The fire was contained to a portion of the second floor, though smoke managed to penetrate most of the 11-story building. The dollar loss was estimated at $150,000. Captain Craig Haney with the Fire Investigation Division said the cause of the fire is undetermined and under investigation.
The Chattanooga Fire Department responded to another two-alarm fire at the same building on June 6. That fire occurred on the ninth floor. Capt. Haney said arson was not suspected in the first fire.