News Releases

The Engine 15 Red Shift crew is proud to say that they helped a Chattanooga mother welcome her baby into the world and it was an experience they won’t ever forget. It happened in the back of an ambulance on the way to the hospital! On Saturday (3/5/22), the crew was called to a family’s home in Brainerd for a pregnancy emergency. The patient informed them that her water broke so they got her onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. Firefighter Corey Hooper rode in the ambulance to assist HCEMS paramedics while the rest of the crew followed behind in the fire engine. As Corey worked to make sure the patient was comfortable, things progressed very quickly. In no time, she informed everyone that the baby was coming! He helped in birthing the child and held the baby until the umbilical cord was cut. Once the baby girl was in her mother’s arms, Firefighter Hooper gave a thumbs up through the back window of the ambulance to his crew and they knew the delivery was a success.

“Not everyone gets to deliver a baby so I was happy to help and glad to be a part of such an incredible moment,” Firefighter Hooper said.

The CFD sends their congratulations to the family involved in this happy moment and we want them to know that when they’re ready, they’re welcome to stop by Station 15 anytime to meet the Red Shift firefighters. Captain Danny Usher, Lieutenant Michael Battle, Senior Firefighter Brandon Lawrence, Firefighter Corey Hooper and Firefighter Tyler Traub do great work and they would love to see how the baby is doing!

After hours of searching, two people lost inside an extensive cave were located! A large-scale search and rescue operation was underway for two missing men at the base of Lookout Mountain. Crews from Chattanooga and Hamilton County were looking for Gabriel Vaughn, 21, and Robby Dobos, 23. It was a complex operation due to the location as crews braved dark and dangerous conditions in an effort to find these two friends. Gabriel and Robby were last seen around 8pm Monday night when the two left to go explore caves. When they did not return, friends and family members became concerned and reported them missing to police. Then they started searching for them in different locations. Friends ended up locating Gabriel’s car in the parking lot of Walgreens on Broad Street around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. They believed the two men were in nearby caves and went to look for them. When they did not find Gabriel and Robby, they contacted authorities and a search operation was launched. The cave is not open to the public for exploring. Drone operations went across the outside of the mountain searching and nothing was found. Teams thoroughly looked for the men down inside the cave. CFD, CPD, HCSTARs, HCOEM, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Service, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Norfolk Southern Police, HCEMS, Highway 58 VFD and the Hamilton County 911 Incident Dispatch Unit took part in the operation. At approximately 3:45 AM Wednesday, personnel with the Hamilton County Cave and Cliff team made contact with both missing men. They were found in the farthest known part of the cave and were assisted out.

The Chattanooga Fire Department wants to thank all of the agencies involved in the search and rescue. Tremendous collaboration by first responders once again saved lives. Several teams went into the multi-level cave which is closed to the public and owned by the railroad. It is bisected by an active train tunnel. Inside, it is easy to become disoriented and the two parties made a wrong turn, taking them further into the cave. They were finally located by personnel with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Service approximately 1.5 miles inside the cave at 3:45 AM Wednesday. They were cold, wet and hungry as they were not properly equipped for the environment, but they were able to walk out on their own with no injuries. The evacuation took several hours. They were evaluated by Hamilton County EMS and refused transport to the hospital. Rescue crews were exhausted, but glad that both parties were safe. Eighty-two personnel were involved in the operation.

“We greatly appreciate the teamwork by everyone involved and the seamless incident command system,” said Chattanooga Fire Chief Phil Hyman. “This all could have been avoided if these individuals had made more responsible choices. It put the lives of all of our crews at risk and it was very labor intensive. But it showed the compassion and dedication of our first responders and volunteers and in this case, there was a positive outcome.”

Chattanooga firefighters rescued a woman from her burning Highland Park home early Sunday morning- a fire caused by a mishap with a candle. At 3:48 AM, Red Shift companies were called to a residential fire with entrapment in the 1800 block of E 4th Street. They found smoke showing from the front porch and side of the structure. Police officers reported that a party was hanging out of a second-story bathroom window in the back, unable to get out. Firefighters immediately went into rescue mode. They used ladders to get the woman out while other crews initiated fire attack. Another occupant had safely exited the home on her own and was outside on the CFD’s arrival. Firefighters continued working to extinguish the fire and had it under control in 30 minutes. The woman who was rescued was checked out by HCEMS and refused transport to the hospital. The accidental fire was caused by a candle that was burning in the bedroom and caught the woman’s nightgown on fire. She tried to put it out, causing the candle to dump over and igniting fire in the bedroom. She ran to the bathroom and that’s where she became trapped by the fire. Luckily, there were no injuries to the residents in this incident, but there was one pet fatality. Engine 5, Ladder 5, Engine 4, Squad 1, Ladder 1, Battalion 1, Battalion 2, HCEMS, EPB and CPD responded.

The Chattanooga Fire Department worked a second alarm commercial fire downtown late Friday night that is now under investigation. The call came out at 10:09 PM to a vacant building at 1810 East Martin Luther King Boulevard at the old Lamar’s Restaurant and Motel which has been abandoned for a number of years. The battalion chief for District 1 (Green Shift) was driving in the area and spotted smoke. He circled the block and saw fire showing from two windows on the side of the building. He called for a full commercial response and then a second alarm a few minutes later because of the size of the building. Crews arrived and made an aggressive interior attack. They located several fires on the first floor and extinguished them. The fire extended to the second floor and firefighters made another attack on that floor. Once they had the flames under control, they continued with overhaul and checked for any extension. Obstacles were created by the amount of debris and contents inside the building hoarded by homeless occupants who have been using the building as shelter. Searches were conducted and no one was found in the structure. There were no injuries. Green Shift crews on the scene meticulously worked through both floors to make sure the fire was fully extinguished. Tri-State Mutual Aid Association helped provide coverage at our fire halls, including assistance at a motor vehicle accident with entrapment.