By Bruce Garner
When fire broke out in a home at 3703 7th Avenue around 7:00 this morning, it wasn’t the sound of a smoke alarm that woke up Johnny Robinson. It was the sound of a baby crying. Mr. Robinson said he got up and went to his cousin’s room, and when he opened the door, smoke and flames burst out toward him. Mr. Robinson said he immediately went to get his cousin’s four children, including three girls and a boy, ages 1 to 4. He carried the two youngest kids and the other two walked out of the house with him. All of the children appeared to be uninjured, but Mr. Robinson appeared to be suffering from some smoke inhalation, and some burns. Most of the hair on his head was singed. Paramedics with Hamilton County EMS checked him out on the scene, but he refused to be transported to a hospital.
Mr. Robinson and the four children he saved were all outside the house when the first Chattanooga (TN) firefighters arrived on the scene. Lt. Danny Atkins with Engine 9 said the front half of the house was fully engulfed in flames. The firefighters eventually got the fire under control, but not before the fire caused substantial damage to the house. Battalion Chief Lesley Morgan said the cause of the fire appears to be accidental, though what exactly sparked the blaze is undetermined. No working smoke alarms were found in the house.
The parents of the four children were away at work at the time of the fire. Volunteers with the American Red Cross of Southeast Tennessee were called in to provide assistance to the family. Chattanooga police also provided assistance on the scene.
Bruce Garner is the Chattanooga (TN) Fire Department Public Information Director.
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