Hamilton County, Tenn - Friday, January 26,2007 - 11:00 pm - Hamilton County
9-1-1 center received a 9-1-1 call reporting a house fire at 11133
Ooltewah-Georgetown Road. Highway 58 fire tones were immediately sounded,
but this call unlike the one 22 hours earlier was answered by several fire
departments. The earlier call on Gamble Road took the life of one of the
bravest firefighters in the country. This left the Highway 58 Fire
Department absolutely devastated. Luckily several other fire departments
around the area donated their time to standby as mutual aid assignments in
the place of the highway 58 Fire Department.
Fire crews with Fort Oglethorpe Station 10,
North Dade County and West Brow from Georgia in conjunction with
firefighters from Bradley County, Dallas Bay and Highway 58 all worked
together without boundaries or mistakes to represent the brother fire
department at a time of severe vulnerability. When the first fire unit
arrived on the scene, they reported the house was already fully involved with
an exposure on the d side. Crews quickly pulled hose lines and established a
primary position keeping the fire from destroying the exposure. Additional
firefighters pulled more hoses and started an exterior knockdown on the
blazing fire.
Additional incoming fire units quickly set
up a tanker shuttle to supply water to the firefighting efforts. Within
minutes, fire crews had gained a substantial knock down on the fire. In less
than an hour, crews were knocking down what was left of little hot spots. The
home owner and family was said to have been at home in bed when the fire
broke out, but luckily was able to escape without injury. The cause of the
fire is still under investigation. The home was considered a total loss.
Story and photos by Bill Carson
