House fire on Dodson Avenue
photo by Battalion Chief Carlos Hampton
No injuries were reported in connection with a house fire on Saturday afternoon that displaced a family of seven.
The Chattanooga Fire Department received the alarm at 4:11 p.m. and responded to 3308 Dodson Ave. with five fire companies. Captain Wadie Suttles with Engine 4 said heavy fire was showing when the first firefighters arrived on the scene. As additional firefighters arrived, they located the fire in a child's bedroom.
Fortunately, no one was in the house at the time.
Battalion Chief Carlos Hampton, the incident commander, said the firefighters put the fire out quickly, containing the fire to the bedroom where it started. The rest of the house had some smoke and water damage. An estimate on the dollar loss was not available.
Chief Hampton said the fire displaces a mother and her six children. Volunteers with the American Red Cross of Southeast Tennessee were called in to provide assistance to the family. Chattanooga police and Hamilton County EMS also provided assistance on the scene.
The cause of the fire has been ruled accidental. A fire investigator said combustibles had been placed too close to a baseboard heater. When the clothes and plastic container got hot enough, they burst into flames.
Heating equipment is a leading cause of home fire deaths. Half of home heating equipment fires are reported during the months of December, January, and February. Some simple steps can prevent most heating-related fires from happening.
- Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or portable space heater.
- Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
- Never use your oven to heat your home.
- Have a qualified professional install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer’s instructions.
- Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
- Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
- Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel burning space heaters.
- Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room. Ashes should be cool before putting them in a metal container. Keep the container a safe distance away from your home.
- Test smoke alarms at least once a month.
*Source: National Fire Protection Association