News Releases

Chattanooga Fire aided TN Forestry with a brush fire in Lookout Valley where several acres of land were burning in between Wauhatchie Pike and Lookout Creek in the Cummings Highway area. The CFD responded on Tuesday afternoon (11/14/23) and our firefighters remained at the site overnight into Wednesday (11/15/23) fighting the fire. It’s a wooded, steep area that was hard to access with personnel and equipment, but our crews and Forestry officials worked tirelessly at this location. The fire was not close to any homes and there was no structural endangerment. At 11:30 AM on Wednesday (11/15/23), Forestry released CFD companies. They continued conducting fire suppression activities throughout the day using helicopter water drops until the fire was out. Forestry cut a fire break around the burning area with heavy equipment for containment.

A woman was taken to the hospital Tuesday afternoon after handling mail, leading to a hazardous materials response by the Chattanooga Fire Department. At 4:22 PM on 11/14/23, several Blue Shift companies and the Special Operations Division responded to 5600 Brainerd Road to the offices of the TN Department of Human Services and the Children’s Services Department. A worker had taken envelopes out of a drop box and then passed out. When she regained consciousness, she indicated that her hands were tingling. She was transported to the hospital for further treatment. First responders evacuated the building and secured the area. Hazmat crews examined the drop box and tested all of the mail that was handled. No hazards were found.

The Quint 21 Red Shift crew had an incident where a home birth turned into a newborn CPR. This happened off Ziegler Road on Thursday 11/9/23. When the baby was born, she was not breathing. The midwife on scene began CPR and Q21 arrived and took over CPR. A pulse was restored by the time they arrived at the hospital. The last update the CFD received was that the baby was named Amelia and that she is receiving the best care in the NICU. Great work by Captain Joey Smith, Senior Firefighter Adam Waldrop, Senior Firefighter Pat O'Brien and Firefighter Dishaun Broughton, as well as Hamilton County EMS. The CFD sends well wishes to little Amelia and her family!

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.