8/16/2005 - Quick Work By Fire Department Helps Salvage Burning Oak Street House - Breaking News

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November 8, 2009

Quick Work By Fire Department Helps Salvage Burning Oak Street House
posted August 16, 2005

Photo by Bruce Garner
Scene of Oak Street fire. Click to enlarge.

Quick work by Chattanooga firefighters kept damages to a minimum at a house fire on Tuesday afternoon.

The Chattanooga Fire Department received the alarm at 3:01 p.m. and responded to 2503 Oak St. with several fire companies.

Battalion Chief Mike Knox said the firefighters made a quick interior attack and "did a great job of containing the blaze to the rear of the structure. The fire was getting ready to bust out all over, but the firefighters got a good jump on it and saved most of the structure.”

The dollar loss was estimated at $18,000.

Chuck Wells, an off-duty Chattanooga police officer in the burglary and robbery division, was the first to notice the fire. “I saw flames coming out from around the window air conditioning unit and immediately called for the fire department,” said officer Wells. The officer noticed a caged dog on the front porch, and pulled it away from the house before firefighters arrived on the scene.

No one was found inside the house and no injuries were reported. Senior Firefighter Henry McElvain with the Fire Investigation Division determined the cause of the fire to be accidental.

The owner of the house said that she had placed incense in several rooms around the house to “make it smell better.” Investigator McElvain said the fire appears to have started when the burning incense was placed too close to combustibles.

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