A five-year-old boy sustained second-degree burns to one arm and his back during an afternoon house fire at 5909 5th Ave.
The child was upstairs while his mother was in the kitchen and his uncle watching television downstairs. When the uncle noticed smoke he ran upstairs to find the boy and the mother got a fire extinguisher to help with the blaze.
Everyone made it out of the house, but the uncle had to be taken to Erlanger Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
The boy was taken to T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital to be treated for his injuries.
The Chattanooga Fire Department received the call at 1:38 p.m. and firefighters arrived on the scene at 1:41 p.m. to find the house full of smoke and a fire in an upstairs bedroom. The crew of Engine 9 made quick work of the fire and managed to keep it from spreading throughout the rest of the house.
Fire Investigator Andy Waters found that the probable cause was the young boy playing with a lighter in the upstairs bedroom. Damages are estimated at $5,000.