Police Officers Rescue Family From Fire

It was a close call for a Chattanooga family when fire broke out in their home early Thursday morning. The Chattanooga Fire Department received the alarm at 3:01 a.m. and responded to 1207 Crutchfield St. with five fire companies.

Thanks to some Chattanooga police officers, the three adults and one child who were in the house are still alive. Details are still being obtained on exactly what happened, but Lt. Darwin Sanders with Quint 10 said the family could not get out of the house, because fire was blocking their way out the front and back doors, and all the windows were blocked by security bars. Lt. Sanders said three Chattanooga police officers ran around the house and located the family, trapped in a back bedroom. They reportedly used a crowbar to pull off the security bars and then helped each family member through the small window .

Lt. Sanders said the family members appeared to be suffering from smoke inhalation, and at least one had a few relatively minor cuts while getting through the window. 

A fire investigator was on the scene, getting more details on what happened and trying to determine what started the fire.

Lt. Henry McElvain with the Fire Investigation Division said the cause of this fire remains under investigation. The family dog was found alive, hiding under a bed. The house was considered a total loss, with damages estimated at $80,000.

Fellow fire investigator and Captain Anthony Moore said the four people we an 86-year-old woman, a 24-year-old man, a 22-year-old woman, and a nine-month-old infant. All four were transported to Erlanger Medical Center and were suffering from minor to moderate smoke inhalation. Captain Moore said the 22-year-old woman also had some significant cuts and scrapes, most likely acquired while getting out the window. The nine-month-old also had a few cuts.

The most seriously injured person was the 24-year-old man. Captain Moore said he had second- and third-degree burns to his hands and forearms, and the hair on his head was singed. He was expected to be transferred to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, GA. 

Captain Moore said it was a good thing the police officers were there. “With the fire spreading like it was, all four of those individuals would have died within the next three or four minutes,” he said. “Those police officers saved their lives.

Kyle Miller of the police department said, "Fox and Echo midnight cars worked together in order to handle this situation early morning. Officer Brooks, Officer Horton, Officer Creighton and Sgt. Francis were involved.

"When Officer Caleb Brooks, Officer Harry Horton, Officer Trevor Creighton arrived on the scene, they noticed that house at 1207 Crutchfield Street was fully engulfed.  The house had metal bars on the windows and doors.  They were not able to get the three victims out of the house.  

 

"When Sgt. Daniel Francis arrived on the scene, he was able to get a crowbar out of his vehicle and they were able to pry the window open in order for the four officers to pull the three victims out of the house which was fully engulfed."

 

Officer Horton said, “I was the first to arrive on the scene and had to pull the satellite dish out of the ground to try and pry security bars off the window.”

 

Sgt. Francis said, “The mom was holding the baby up to the security bars to get fresh air.”

 

For video by Bruce Garner click here and here.