It was a very close call for some Chattanooga families when fire raced through their apartment building Thursday night.
The fire broke out on the third floor of the Hidden Creek Apartments, trapping some residents there, including a mother and her baby. Authorities said an off-duty Chattanooga firefighter caught the baby after it was dropped by the mother.
Captain Anthony Moore with the Fire Investigation Division identified the firefighter as Vernon Lane, a lieutenant with Ladder 1 at Station 1. Lt. Lane also lived in that apartment building and, when fire broke out, he got out and spotted the mother and her 10-month-old baby boy on a third floor balcony.
Lt. Lane said the woman dropped the baby toward him, and he managed to catch it, dropping to the ground to help break the fall. But before Lt. Lane could get back up, the woman landed on top of both of them.
The woman and baby were transported by Hamilton County EMS to a local hospital. Captain Moore said the condition of the mother and child was still being assessed by medical personnel, but none of their injuries were thought to be life-threatening.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Lt. Henry McElvain is assisting with the investigation.
The Chattanooga Fire Department received the alarm at 10:33 p.m. and responded to the units at 7710 E. Brainerd Road with six fire companies. The apartment complex is just around the corner from Station 21 on East Brainerd Road. When firefighters from that station arrived on the scene, they observed a significant amount of fire coming from the third floor of the apartment building. Seeing the magnitude of the fire, a second alarm was requested to bring in six additional fire companies.
All of the occupants were in the process of evacuating the building when the firefighters arrived.
The firefighters initially tried to attack the fire from the inside of the apartment building, and on the roof, but the fire continued to spread through the attic and flames eventually broke through the roof. At that point, Battalion Chief Fredrick Blake ordered the firefighters out of the building for their own safety. It took roughly 50 firefighters more than an hour to get the blaze under control. An estimate on the dollar loss was not available, but the damage was extensive and a number of apartment units were totally destroyed.
Management with the apartment complex told firefighters that everyone who lived in the 24 units in the building were accounted for. The American Red Cross of Southeast Tennessee responded to the scene with a team of staff and volunteers to provide assistance to the victims displaced by the fire. Jamie Lewis, disaster program manager with the Red Cross, said a shelter was being set up at the E. Brainerd Church of Christ, located across the street from the apartment complex. Lewis said most of the families are expected to stay with family or friends, but he said three or four families may use the shelter for a day or two.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Chattanooga police, Hamilton County EMS, EPB and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue also provided valuable assistance on the scene.
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