Chattanooga firefighters were called to a reported apartment fire at Boynton Terrace Apartments, 951 Boynton Dr., around 7 a.m. Saturday and wound up rescuing an apartment resident.
The fire was on the seventh floor, so the firefighters made their way up seven floors using the stairwell.
When they arrived outside the apartment, Lieutenant Brian Pemberton and Senior Firefighter Larry Olivier with Ladder 1 could hear a popping noise, confirming for them that there might be a fire inside.
Using a master key to gain entry, they saw that the kitchen was on fire. They called for additional manpower and requested a second alarm response.
As additional firefighters rushed to the apartment, Lt. Pemberton and Senior Firefighter Olivier found the resident, an adult male, apparently asleep in his bed. The firefighters quickly carried the victim out and then put him on oxygen. After that, the victim was handed over to paramedics with Hamilton County EMS, who transported him to Erlanger Hospital. Captain Don Bowman with Ladder 1 said the victim would not have survived if he had been in that smoke-filled apartment much longer.
The fire was quickly extinguished by the other firefighters, with the fire damage contained mostly to the kitchen area in that apartment. Most of the second alarm fire companies that were responding were then cancelled.
Captain Bowman said the smoke alarm in the victim's apartment unit did not have an audible alarm. The cause of the fire is under investigation.