A fire broke out in one apartment at the Patten Towers downtown on Saturday morning and the residents were evacuated.
The Chattanooga Fire Department responded just after 9 a.m. to a fire alarm at the high-rise former hotel at 1 East 11th St. Fire crews quickly accessed the apartment indicated on the alarm panel to find the living room full of flames.
Lieutenant Joey Smith stated that after a primary search they found no one inside the unit.
Firefighters made quick work of the flames and contained the fire to the original apartment, with little to no damage to surrounding apartments.
As a precaution, all residents in the apartment building were evacuated during firefighting operations.
The residents that were evacuated were sheltered at the Hamilton County Bicentennial Library using Carta buses for those unable to walk. The Red Cross was called for the resident of the apartment that was on fire and that resident has been relocated to another apartment inside the building. The other residents were allowed back in the building with the exception of the third floor and management is posting a fire watch until the alarm company gets the alarm system back on line.
The fire is still under investigation and no injuries were reported.