Chattanooga firefighters battled a house fire early Sunday morning that left one entrapped resident dead, while another person and two pets escaped the flames.
A passerby reported seeing flames coming from a home on the 3400 block of Wilcox Boulevard at 4:42 a.m., according to a Chattanooga Fire Department news release.
By the time firefighters arrived, heavy flames were coming from the back of the house, and the first and second attempted searches were cut short due to safety concerns as fire conditions worsened, the release states.
When search attempts failed, the department moved to a defensive attack to fight the fire, which was designated as under control at 6:45 a.m.
The fire department first reported that one person and two dogs had safely gotten out of the house, and the city’s public works department was enroute to help tear through the structure with heavy equipment to search for an unaccounted-for person. But, as the department announced on its Twitter page at 8:53 a.m., the second person was later found deceased in his bedroom.