You can learn a lesson from the Crutchfield St. fire this week

Chattanooga, TN (WDEF) – The obvious lesson from the Crutchfield St. fire this week is the danger of bars over the windows.
Chattanooga police officers had to pry the bars off to rescue the family.
But Lt. Bobby Morgan says there was another lesson for residents.
If you are trapped in a fire, close a door between you and the fire.

Lt. Bobby Morgan with Quint 1 said the family on Crutchfield did the right thing.

“On the fire at 1207 Crutchfield St on 03/19/15, Q1 crew made entry through the back door for fire attack and search & rescue operations. We were met with high heat and rapid fire conditions, the temp at that time was not readable on the thermal imaging camera. We made an attack on the fire and was able to knock down the fire enough to get to the rear bedrooms for a search. The hallway temp was observed on the thermal imaging camera over 300 degrees. The door to the bedroom where CPD had pulled the occupants out of the window, was closed. Upon entry to the bedroom, the temp was 120 degrees at the ceiling and below a 100 degrees at the floor, with light smoke conditions. The door being closed held back the smoke and high heat long enough to allow the CPD officers to remove the bars from the window and rescue the occupants. I think the public should know just how important it is to close doors when in this type of situation. The door being closed by the occupants allowed that extra time that was needed for CPD to rescue them. We always talk about the importance of a working smoke alarm, but I think we should also let the public know just how important closing doors can be to Life Safety. In this case it helped save their lives.”

Lt. Bobby Morgan
Quint1 Blue

So the Chattanooga Fire Department has these tips for home owners.

— Make sure you have working fire alarms
— Make a fire escape plan for your family
— Close doors to slow down the spread of fires.
— Put a towel or something at the base of the door to keep the smoke out.