Fire Destroys North Chattanooga House

Sunday, February 18, 2007
Firefighters battled the house fire in strong winds for more than an hour before the blaze was under control. Click to enlarge.
Firefighters battled the house fire in strong winds for more than an hour before the blaze was under control. Click to enlarge.

Chattanooga firefighters responded to a roaring house fire in North Chattanooga Saturday night. The firefighters received the alarm at 10:25 p.m. and responded to 112 Hartman St. with four fire companies.

Firefighters with Quint 12 were the first to arrive on the scene. Capt. Lisa Roberson said flames were already shooting through the roof of the structure, and had also enveloped a car parked in the front.

Capt. Roberson said their efforts to extinguish the fire were hampered initially because there was still electrical service to the house. A crew with EPB eventually arrived on the scene and cut the power off.

As additional firefighters arrived on the scene, strong winds fanned the flames and carried burning embers to the roofs of nearby structures. Capt. Marcus Wolff, the incident commander, called for an additional fire company, and had several firefighters spray water on the roofs to keep the fire from spreading.

Meanwhile, Capt. Wolff ordered the evacuation of the Walnut View condos as a precaution. Only a handful of residents were involved in the evacuation, and some of them were invited to stay inside the Forrest Avenue United Methodist Church until firefighters were sure their condos were no longer endangered. Those residents were allowed back into their homes a few hours later.

This was a two-story house with a basement. Chattanooga firefighters battled the blaze and high winds for more than an hour before getting it under control. There were no reports of any injuries. The firefighters were able to conduct a partial search of the structure before it collapsed, and found no one inside.

The house had reportedly been vacant for about two months, and neighbors reported seeing vagrants in and around the house.

Capt. James Whitmire with the Fire Investigation Division said that at this point, the cause of the fire will be listed as undetermined and under investigation. An estimate on the dollar loss was not available.

Chattanooga Police, Hamilton County EMS and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue also provided assistance on the scene.


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