photo by Chattanooga Fire Department
photo by Chattanooga Fire Department
photo by Chattanooga Fire Department
photo by Chattanooga Fire Department
photo by Chattanooga Fire Department
A Chattanooga family’s pet saved them from a house fire Tuesday morning, allowing them to escape in the nick of time.
The dog, Jack, went to wake up his dad by licking his face to let him know that something wasn’t right at their home in the 3500 block of Jerome Avenue in the East Lake area, not far off Rossville Boulevard. His dad smelled the smoke and rushed to get other residents out of the burning structure. Thanks to their dog, they all got out alive as flames engulfed the residence.
An off-duty Walker County firefighter called 911 to report the fire and multiple Red Shift companies responded at 8:20 a.m. Engine 9 could see black smoke from their fire hall as they were responding to the call and as they approached the scene, they could see flames extending 15 feet above the house. Engine 9 reported a fully involved house fire with multiple exposures.
Due to the volume of fire and close proximity of other residential structures, they immediately launched a defensive attack to protect nearby homes and combat the blaze. Four handlines were used to protect exposures and fight the fire. There were multiple small explosions from the burning contents. A deck gun was then used to knock flames down. Firefighters worked hard to remove tires from around the house to keep them from catching fire. Crews worked together to extinguish the flames and successfully prevented the fire from spreading to any other houses.
They remained on scene for several hours targeting hot spots and smoldering debris. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
There were no injuries. The American Red Cross is assisting impacted residents.
Engine 9, Engine 5, Ladder 5, Squad 1, Quint 1, Ladder 1, Battalion 1, Battalion 3, CPD, HCEMS, CFD Supply, CFD Investigations Division, CFD’s Safety Chief, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau, EPB, and Red Cross were on the scene.