News Releases

A Chattanooga family’s pet saved them from a house fire Tuesday morning, allowing them to escape in the nick of time. Their 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 Ave 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 AM on 10/7/23. 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.

An off-duty Chattanooga firefighter took action Monday morning when he spotted a fire in Lookout Valley. Senior Firefighter Mark Coffman was returning home from a 24-hour shift when he saw smoke coming from the area of a residence on Harris Lane. He was concerned and went to investigate further and that’s when he saw that the family’s detached garage was burning only a few feet away from their house. He knocked on the door to alert the residents so they could evacuate and called 911. Green Shift companies responded at 7:20 AM and found a fully involved garage fire with structural endangerment to the nearby home. Squad 20 initiated a defensive attack as Quint 3 established a water supply. A second handline was deployed as the defensive attack continued. The fire also spread to nearby vegetation including trees, grass and brush so crews tackled that as well. Firefighters remained on the scene working to fully extinguish the fire by targeting hot spots and removing smoldering contents from the garage. There were no injuries. The fire appears to be accidental in nature. This was a taxing response for firefighters as the scene sat back off the road at the top of a hill with narrow, dirt driveway, making it difficult to get additional fire trucks and equipment to the location but crews navigated those obstacles and kept flames from spreading to the nearby house. Quint 1, Ladder 1, Squad 1, Squad 20, Quint 3, Medic 10, Battalion 1, CPD and EPB were on the scene.

Chattanooga Fire hosted a trench rescue technician class that provided realistic scenarios and hands-on learning opportunities for area agencies. Cleveland TN Fire Department, Bradley County Fire and Rescue, Signal Mountain Fire Department and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office - TN had personnel taking the course which was held off Discovery Drive near the VW plant. Members of the class learned about the dynamics and dangers of a trench and how to properly stabilize walls. Our instructors taught them how to recognize possible collapses and how to enter a trench safely for the rescue/recovery of a victim while overcoming various obstacles. Participants worked in different shaped trenches of varying depths. Special thanks to Marion Environmental for bringing out their vac truck for the class to practice removing large amounts of dirt very quickly. This week, CFD’s squad companies will be at the same site doing similar drills for training purposes.

Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department, Chattanooga firefighters and the CFD’s Special Operations Division worked an extrication Saturday night 10/28/23 at mile marker 9.4 on Interstate 75 Southbound between the Ooltewah and Volkswagen exit. A truck ran off the road after 5 PM and ended up in the woods. It was a joint effort by both departments to cut the driver out. Hamilton County EMS then transported the driver to local hospital. 

Here's a detailed explanation from the incident report: At 17:08 on 10/28/23, Squad 7, Ladder 7, Squad 13, and the Battalion Chief for District 2 Green Shift were dispatched to a reported MVC with entrapment involving a semi-truck off the interstate at the 940 mile marker on I-75 SB. TCFD was also dispatched as part of the area’s automatic aid agreement. Squad 7 also requested an additional squad, Squad 19, to be assigned to the call for additional assistance as needed. CFD Special Operations also responded to the scene to assist as well. S7 arrived on scene and established command with CPD, who was already on scene. The semi-truck was located approximately 80 feet off the roadway in the wooded area beside the interstate. It was the only vehicle involved in the incident. The tractor of the semi had heavy front-end impingement from a collision with a large tree. The tractor and portion of the trailer were suspended over the embankment due to being caught in additional trees. Contact was made with the party inside by CPD and CFD personnel and it was confirmed that there was no hazardous material being hauled in the trailer. The trailer had also suffered front end damage during the collision, but no contents had escaped from it. TCFD units arrived on scene to provide aid as needed. Three Paratech struts with extensions were used, along with CFD pickets to secure the suspended portion of the vehicle before extrication began. Multiple extinguishers were brought to the scene for fire control by L7 personnel, who also provided aid in managing and placing the Paratech struts along with TCFD personnel. A salvage tub was placed under the truck to collect leaking fluids during extrication operations once the struts were in place. Multiple eDRAULIC spreaders were used on both sides of the tractor, along with a TCFD ladder to allow CFD and HCEMS personnel access to provide initial medical care for the driver. S7 and S13 personnel, along with TCFD personnel, performed extrication operations with 28 and 32-inch spreaders, J-Hook chain clusters, and reciprocating saws. S19 built a low-angle rope system to help retrieve the patient once the extrication was complete and provided additional manpower. A chainsaw and bolt cutters were used to provide a clear path to the rope system and a hoseline was placed and manned during the extrication operations. The patient was unable to open the doors of the vehicle and both of their legs were pinned by the dash assembly. The extrication involved two door pops, a cut along the body of the top of the sleeper of the tractor trailer to allow for movement of the tractor body when needed, and a dash push and partial dash removal using spreaders and reciprocating saws. The steering wheel was also moved and secured using J-Hook chain clusters to create additional room for the patient. Once the patient was freed, they were placed on a backboard and then a Stokes basket where they were brought up the embankment and turned over to HCEMS. All units removed their equipment and placed it on the respective trucks and were then cleared to leave the scene. Monteagle Towing and Recovery arrived on scene and took over removing the truck from the wooded area, as well as hazmat cleanup. Any remaining units were cleared to return to service at 19:04.