CATOOSA COUNTY, GA - Monday, May 22,2006
- 5:45 pm - Ringgold/Catoosa County and Fort Oglethorpe Firefighters were
alerted of a house fire at number 54 Robert E. Lee Drive, just off
Battlefield Parkway. Within minutes, Ringgold/Catoosa County Fire Chief Chuck Gass
arrived on the scene, confirming a working structure fire that was
stating to self ventilate through the roof of the structure. Fort Oglethorpe
Engine 8 arrived on the scene right behind the Chief and quickly started an
aggressive primary attack through the front door of the house.
It was immediately evident that the fire
was in the upstairs portion of the structure and firefighters wasted no time
making their way up the stairs to the seat of the fire. Within seconds of
entering the structure, firefighters were already showing the upper hand as
the flames were quickly being knocked down. Additional fire crews arrived on
the scene quickly including Catoosa County Engine 13, bringing a supply hose
from a nearby fire hydrant.
Crews at the fire scene quickly found
out that the house was the home of a fellow firefighter from a neighboring
East Ridge Fire Department. Engineer Randy Albright, 2005 Firefighter of the
Year in East Ridge Tennessee, was returning home with his family when they
pulled into their driveway and saw the heavy smoke coming from their home.
Firefighter Albright said he attempted to make entry into his home, in an
effort to try and extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, but the
thick heavy smoke was to much.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the
fire in short order saving the majority of the fellow firefighters
belongings. A large number of fellow firefighters from the East Ridge Fire
Department also arrived on the scene rather quickly to comfort their brother
and his family. The fire itself caused an estimated $50,000 in damage to the
home. The fire was believed to have started upstairs, but the exact cause is
still under investigation.
Story and photos by Bill Carson
