By Bruce Garner and Chris Willmore
Chattanooga (TN) firefighters rescued a woman from a house fire Sunday, the second such rescue in less than 24 hours in that city.
Shortly before 5:00 a.m., Chattanooga firefighters were dispatched to a reported house fire with entrapment at 2117 Windsor Street. Several Chattanooga police officers were first on the scene. One resident was already outside, but he told the police officers that a woman was still inside. The officers went in through the front door and searched a bedroom, but found no one. The smoke forced the officers to exit the building.
Chattanooga fire companies began arriving on the scene, with Engine 4 getting there first. Captain David Brooks, the incident commander, said they entered the smoke-filled house through the front door to conduct a search for the woman. Using a thermal imaging camera, Firefighter George Johnson found an unconscious woman on the floor, about eight feet from a side exit door. Firefighter Johnson was assisted by several others in carrying the woman out of the house. The firefighters immediately began administering CPR on the woman and then handed her off to paramedics with Hamilton County EMS, who then rushed her to Erlanger Medical Center. The 33-year-old victim is in critical condition in the burn unit at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville.
As additional fire companies arrived on the scene, the fire was located in the kitchen and quickly extinguished. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
On Saturday afternoon, several Chattanooga police officers pulled a woman from a house fire at 2001 Hardy Street. Officers Dobb, Day, and Seech were meeting around 3:50 p.m. when a passerby notified them that a nearby home was on fire. The officers arrived on scene and found smoke and flames coming from one of the bedroom windows of the house. Neighbors from across the street were saying that someone was in the house. The officers opened the front door and encountered waist high thick black smoke. They ducked down and saw a person a few feet inside the door struggling to get out of the deadly smoke. The officers quickly grabbed the 79-year-old lady and pulled her out into the front yard.
Fire units arrive and the fire was extinguished in less than 10 minutes. The woman was treated and transported to Erlanger Medical Center for precautionary measures.
Bruce Garner is the Chattanooga (TN) Fire Department Public Information Director.
Chris Willmore is a battalion chief for the Chattanooga (TN) Fire Department.
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