A man was flown to a Georgia burn unit after suffering burns and smoke inhalation in a house fire early Saturday at 317 N. Highland Park Ave. The man's brother and 7-year-old nephew were slightly injured in the blaze.
Bruce Garner, spokesman for the Chattanooga Fire Department, said the 7-year-old woke to flames and smoke just before 4 a.m. He went to his father's and uncle's bedrooms to wake them.
The boy and his dad crawled on the floor back to the boy's room, where the father cut his hands breaking out a window. The two waited for the uncle but he didn't come and finally the boy and father escaped through the window.
The boy ran to a neighbor's house to call 911 and his father grabbed a ladder and took it around the back of the house to see if he could get to his brother. By that time, Chattanooga firefighters had arrived at the burning home.
They entered through the back door and found the remaining man unconscious on the bedroom floor. All three were taken to Erlanger, where the boy and his father were treated and released.
The remaining man had second- and third-degree burns on his upper body and had inhaled a lot of smoke. After assessment at Erlanger, he was flown by Life Force helicopter to the burn unit at WellStar Cobb Hospital in Cobb County, Ga., where he was listed in critical condition.
The fire is believed to have started in the living room, which suffered the most fire damage, but the rest of the house had smoke and water damage. Two smoke alarms were inoperable because the batteries were wrongly installed.
The cause of the fire remains undetermined.