Chattanooga firefighters responded to a fire in the Boynton Terrace apartment building Tuesday morning.Firefighters contained a Boynton Drive apartments fire to a single unit after a construction worker accidentally ignited some foam rubber during renovations this morning, according to Chattanooga Fire Department officials.
Hamilton County EMS personnel treated two of 84 residents evacuated from the Boynton Terrace Apartments at 959 Boynton Drive – one for minor smoke inhalation and the other for a pre-existing condition, officials said.
Fire investigators are interviewing construction workers to confirm the cause of the fire, but initial investigations suggest the fire was started on the ground floor by a construction worker using a cutting torch to remove old flooring. The worker said he accidentally ignited some foam rubber used to seal wall heating units, then ran to get a bucket of water to put out the fire. By the time he returned, the water and fire extinguishers were ineffective and the blaze was out of control, investigators said.
When 911 was called, the fire department responded with six companies that stopped the fire from spreading to other apartments, though “the rest of the floor was smoked up,” according to officials.