A vehicle fire on Spruce Street spread to two homes Wednesday, damaging one and destroying the other before firefighters could douse the blaze.
Charles Williams said the fire in the 500 block of Spruce Street began about 3 p.m. as he worked on his 1984 Porsche at his mother’s home and the engine caught fire.
“I saw the flames come up and I tried to put them out, but the hose wouldn’t reach that far,” Williams said.
Williams said he got his mother, Hilda, out of the house before anyone was injured. She lived at the home with another son, Charles Williams said.
The vehicle was parked in a driveway between two homes, and flames quickly reached the attic of the neighboring house and destroyed it, said Bruce Garner with the Chattanooga Fire Department.
“The problem was that the houses were so close together and the fire was able to spread so quickly to both homes,” Garner said.
The owner of the second home arrived with several family members while firefighters were putting out the flames but was too distraught to talk.
Neighbors said they thought the second home was being renovated and was not occupied.
Garner said nine firetrucks, two ambulances and police assistance responded to the fire, causing part of Bailey Avenue to be blocked so firefighters could work.
It took firefighters more than an hour to get the flames under control, Garner said.
The Red Cross responded to help the residents relocate and get food, shelter and medicine, Garner said.
By all accounts, the fire started at the car, Garner said, but the exact cause still is under investigation.
Contact Jessie Gable at jgable@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6345.