Chattanooga firefighters rushed to Patten Towers at #1 East 11th Street shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday when fire broke out on the 9th floor.

A couple hundred elderly residents had to be evacuated, but no one was injured.

After a brief investigation into the fire, the Fire Marshal's office determined that the fire appears to have been started by a four-year-old boy. Fire Marshal Craig Haney said the boy was in the care of his grandmother this afternoon. Around 2 p.m., the boy came running out of a bedroom, telling his grandmother that the bed was on fire. The grandmother got her grandson out of the apartment unit, and by that time, the fire alarm system activated.

The grandmother told Chief Haney that the boy had used a cigarette lighter to set the bed on fire. The investigation will continue.

Chief Haney said his office has been working closely with Patten Towers management on upgrading the fire alarm system and their evacuation plan. Based on his own observations with this afternoon's fire, Chief Haney said the residents and staff performed very well with the evacuation.

Captain Tim Hustad said smoke was pouring from the window of an apartment unit on the ninth floor when the first firefighters arrived on the scene. The firefighters immediately made their way up the stairwells, locating the fire in Room 921.

Captain Hustad said it took the firefighters roughly 15 minutes to get the blaze under control, but they did manage to contain the fire to the one apartment unit. The rest of the ninth floor suffered smoke damage, and there was some light smoke on the tenth floor. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.

Due to the intensity of the fire, Captain Hustad called for a 3-alarm response. However, once it was clear that the firefighters were going to be able to contain the blaze to the one unit, the third alarm companies were canceled.

At the height of the incident, there were roughly 20 fire companies on the scene. The cause of the fire was undetermined and under investigation.

Many residents of the 11-story building evacuated on their own when the fire alarm activated. Others who are physically impaired were assisted down the stairwells by firefighters.

Paramedics with Hamilton County EMS checked out many of the residents to make sure they were okay. One resident was transported to a local hospital, but the patient's condition appeared to be unrelated to the fire itself.

The fire department asked for assistance from CARTA, which brought in two buses where the evacuated residents could rest and get out of the chilly afternoon air. When it became apparent that it would take a few hours for the firefighters to ventilate the building and mop up the excess water, a decision was made to move 80 to 90 of the residents to the Salvation Army facility on McCallie Avenue.

Bill Tittle, Chief of Emergency Management, said the residents were moved there so they could have refreshments and restroom facilities.

When the bulk of the cleanup is completed in a few hours, the residents will be allowed back to their apartment units. If there are any residents who still need shelter Sunday night, the Red Cross will arrange for a temporary stay in a local motel.

A representative with Patten Towers management said the building has 221 apartment units, and 27 of them were vacant before the fire. Chattanooga Police and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue also provided valuable assistance on the scene.