Chattanooga Fire Captain Jonathan Lehman was riding his bicycle around 6:30 Friday morning on his way to start another shift at Fire Station #1, when he saw smoke coming from Chattanooga Woodworking Academy at 1604 Market Street.
Captain Lehman said he sped up to get to Station 1 a few blocks away on E. Main Street. He alerted his fellow firefighters at the station, as well as 911 Communications, and all four fire companies responded to the scene.
No one was there when the firefighters arrived on the scene, so they had to force their way in to get to the fire.
Once inside, they had the fire out in less than 10 minutes. The fire was contained to the shop area.
No injuries were reported. An estimate on the dollar loss was not available.
Fire investigators say the fire started in a barrel containing wood chips and oily shop rags. What exactly sparked the blaze remains undetermined, but the cause of the fire is being ruled accidental.
photo by Bruce Garner