photo by Bruce Garner
Quick work by Chattanooga firefighters saved most of an apartment building early Wednesday afternoon.
The Chattanooga Fire Department received the alarm shortly after
noon today and responded to Radius Mountain Creek Apartments at 936 Mountain Creek Road with six fire companies. Captain Mose Duckett with Quint 17 said light smoke was showing when the first firefighters arrived on the scene.
The smoke was coming from two units on one end of the the two-story building that contained six townhomes. As a precaution, Captain Duckett called for a second alarm response to bring in six additional fire companies.
The firefighters took in hand-held hoselines and worked to put the fire out. However, the fire had penetrated into the attic, causing concern that the flames might spread across the entire roof of the building. To keep that from happening, Captain Duckett said the firefighters cut a long ventilation hole on the roof known as a "trench cut." The trench cut acts as a fire break on the roof and allows firefighters access to where the fire is in the attic. The result was the fire being stopped at the two units already damaged by the fire.
No injuries were reported. The other four townhomes appeared to be undamaged. The loss was estimated at around $120,000.
One townhome was rented, but the residents were not home at the time of the fire. The other townhome was vacant, but plumbers were reportedly inside making repairs when the fire started. The lead fire investigator says the cause of the fire appears to be accidental, though what exactly sparked the blaze remains undetermined.
photo by Bruce Garner