Victim identified in Sunday's Lookout Valley house fire

Firefighters work to get the blaze under control while off-duty Captain Steve Everett (in overalls, right front), Chattanooga firefighters, and some of the neighbors involved in the rescue help carry Charles Vaughn's wife on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance on Sunday, September 17, 2017.
Firefighters work to get the blaze under control while off-duty Captain Steve Everett (in overalls, right front), Chattanooga firefighters, and some of the neighbors involved in the rescue help carry Charles Vaughn's wife on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance on Sunday, September 17, 2017.

The victim in Sunday's fatal Lookout Valley fire has been identified as 72-year-old Charles Vaughn, according to a release from the Chattanooga Fire Department.

Vaughn was reportedly in the attached garage of a home on the 1200 block of Judys Lane, working on a lawnmower, when the fire started. At some point, he went into the house while it was on fire. Neighbors and off-duty firefighters rushed to help Vaughn's wife and daughter from the burning home, but Vaughn never made it out.

Vaughn's wife was taken to a local hospital by Hamilton County EMS to be treated for burns and smoke inhalation, while his daughter was treated on scene for minor smoke inhalation, according to the release.

The CFD says the fire has been ruled as accidental and the cause is undetermined at this time. The house is considered to be a total loss.

Vaughn's death is the fourth fire-related fatality so far this year in Chattanooga.

Upcoming Events