Flames spread from new house to historic home at 108 Jarnigan Ave.
photo by CFD
The Chattanooga Fire Department reported a sad update from the Jarnigan Avenue scene on the city’s north side where two homes were destroyed by fire Friday. It appears that the occupant in the second home that caught fire (driven by the wind) went back into her burning residence to get her pet bird and tragically did not make it out alive.
Initially, she had been alerted to the fire at her house by a neighbor and safely escaped and then, when she could not be located by fire officials and neighbors, it sparked concerns that she had potentially gone back into her home as the smoke and flames spread.
Once crews got the fire extinguished, the Chattanooga Department of Public Works brought in heavy machinery to begin carefully and meticulously removing parts of the charred remains of the structure to look for the missing resident. During the search, the body of the victim, a 68-year-old woman, was located by firefighters. Her name is not being released at this time pending notification of the next of kin.
Fire officials said, "Our thoughts are with the woman’s family, friends and neighbors following the tragic chain of events. Chattanooga Fire officials stress the importance of “Get Out, Stay Out” during a fire and urge citizens to never go back into a burning structure as they can quickly become disoriented and overwhelmed by smoke and heat."
Both homes that caught fire at this location are a total loss. The cause of the fires is under investigation.
A large new home on Baker Street initially went up in flames on Friday morning, and the blaze spread to an adjacent historic house at 108 Jarnagin Ave, where the owner died.
At 6:30 a.m., companies responded to reports of a residential fire in North Chattanooga. Firefighters found a newly constructed, unoccupied house completely engulfed in flames.
Due to the wind, the fire spread to the house next door, causing two simultaneous structure fires.
A second alarm was called to bring more personnel to the scene to help fight both fires.
Crews remained on the scene working to completely extinguish the fires.
The major fire lit up the sky and could be seen for many miles.
Historic home in North Chattanooga where owner died
photo by CFD