Firefighters attend to clean up duties after putting out a fire at East Lake Courts.Two young children at East Lake Courts decided to pretend they were camping, and in the process started a campfire — in their bedroom.
The Chattanooga Fire Department was called around 4:30 p.m. Thursday to 2451 Fifth Ave.
Battalion Chief Chris Willmore said the children’s mother initially tried to put the fire out herself, but was unsuccessful, according to a press release. She then got her kids out of the apartment and called 911.
Chattanooga police arrived first and worked to evacuate the rest of the two-story apartment building. Willmore said everyone was safely out of the apartment when the first firefighters arrived on the scene.
The firefighters located the fire in a bedroom, mostly involving a mattress. They quickly extinguished the fire, containing the blaze to the bedroom.
Willmore said the children did not start the fire with malicious intent and will not be charged.