posted March 13, 2005
Aggressive work by Chattanooga firefighters saved most of an apartment building early Sunday morning.
The fire was reported at 3:30 a.m. in Apt. A at 4116 Maple Terrace Lane. The back of that two-story apartment unit was engulfed in flames as Captain Charles McMillian and his firefighters with Quint 6 arrived on the scene. Apt. A was attached to four other units, and seeing the potential for a very large fire, Captain McMillian called for a second alarm response to bring in additional firefighters and equipment.
As some firefighters made their way inside to make an interior attack on the fire, other firefighters attacked the fire at the rear of the structure. There were some tense moments there when the gas meter servicing the apartment became involved in the fire, fire officials said.
Mark Smith with the Chattanooga Gas Company said he could not get to the meter to shut the gas off because it was engulfed in flames. Captain McMillian grabbed the wrench from Mr. Smith and, covered with a fog of spray from fellow firefighters, moved in and managed to shut the gas off.
“I’ve been in this business for 19 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Mr. Smith. “It was scary, but that firefighter didn’t stop until he had the gas off.”
Meanwhile, as firefighters battled the fire inside the structure, part of the ceiling gave way and fell on a firefighter. Some of the falling debris got under Senior Firefighter Jamie Ratchford’s helmet, causing first and second degree burns to the back of his neck. Paramedics with Hamilton County EMS transported Ratchford to Erlanger Hospital, where he was treated and released for relatively minor injuries.
It took the firefighters roughly 30 minutes to get the blaze under control. A firewall helped the firefighters to contain the blaze to Apt. A. The resident of that apartment was not home at the time of the fire, but his six pet cats perished in the blaze. The adjacent unit, also unoccupied at the time, had some smoke and water damage. The other three units in the building appeared to be undamaged.
No injuries to any residents were reported, and volunteers with the Red Cross were called in to provide assistance to the resident of Apt. A.
Captain Craig Haney with the Fire Investigation Division said the fire appears to have started in an attached storage room to Apt. A, but what exactly sparked the blaze remains undetermined and under investigation. The dollar loss was estimated at around $75,000.
Chattanooga police and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue also provided assistance on the scene.
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