Man Escapes Burning House With Infant Twins; His Mother Is Rescued

Four people were taken to the hospital Saturday morning from the scene of a house fire in Alton Park.

Chattanooga Fire Department Red Shift companies were called to the 3700 block of Dorris Street at 5 a.m.

Quint 14 got on the scene and received reports of at least one victim trapped inside the residence. They made entry and started searching, locating an elderly, wheelchair-bound woman on the floor in the back bedroom. She had activated her medical alert device, notifying 911 that she was still inside her home.

Quint 14 personnel carried her outside and started treating her with oxygen.

The victim’s son and his infant twins made it out of the burning home after he broke a window and crawled out of it with his babies, suffering lacerations to his arms in the process. He took the twins to a nearby relative’s home and rushed back to the scene to try to save his mother. He broke her bedroom window with a brick, but there was too much smoke and he could not get to her. Thankfully, firefighters had her out within minutes.

All four victims (mother, son and two grandchildren) suffered smoke inhalation and were transported to the hospital for observation.

As Quint 14 was doing their search and rescue, Squad 1 and Battalion 1 arrived. Battalion 1 took command and Squad 1 established a supply line. Ladder 1 stretched an attack line from Quint 14 and went inside to combat the fire and protect 14’s crew. Squad 1 then did a secondary search. The fire was brought under control in a few minutes. EMS arrived on scene and began treating the victims. Then ventilation was established and overhaul began.

Quint 1 searched the other side of the duplex, which was vacant.

The fire caused significant damage to the structure. It appears to be accidental and electrical in nature.

Quint 14, Ladder 1, Squad 1, Quint 1, Engine 9, Squad 20, Battalion 1, Battalion 3, CFD investigators, HCEMS, and CPD responded.

The home where this fire occurred is directly across the street from a house that burned last week on on Thursday, displacing six people. That fire was caused by a malfunctioning dryer.