A 78-year-old woman escaped a house fire in East Ridge on Monday afternoon.
At approximately 4:05 p.m., East Ridge Fire/Rescue and Police responded to 8 Edwards Terrace.
The first fire apparatus arrived within three minutes to find heavy smoke and fire coming from the home. Firefighters were able to save the home by working quickly to establish an aggressive interior attack of the fire. A second crew using a chainsaw cut a hole in the roof to ventilate the structure in order to reduce the amount of heat and smoke damage.
The fire appears to have started in the kitchen and quickly spread to the attic.
The occupant was cooking at the time of the blaze, but escaped without injury. However, she was transported to the hospital by Memorial EMS for observation.
Damage is estimated at $30,000.
Units responding include East Ridge Quint 1, Engine 1, Engine 2, Squad 2, Support 1, Rescue 1, Rescue 2 and Haz-Mat 1. Fort Oglethorpe Engine 1 responded to the scene on an automatic mutual aid alarm for man power.
Due to the extreme heat, Hamilton County Rescue Mobile Rehabilitation Unit also responded to the scene for firefighter care.