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2106 Driftwood Road
House and apartment fires over the weekend kept area firefighters busy.
It started about 7 a.m. Saturday when Chattanooga firefighters rescued a man from his smoke-filled apartment at Boynton Terrace Apartments.
Spokesman Bruce Garner said firefighters entered the apartment with a master key and found the kitchen on fire. They found the man in bed and brought him outside. He was given oxygen and taken to Erlanger hospital.
The fire damage was mostly limited to the kitchen, Garners said.
About 10 p.m. Saturday, Chattanooga firefighters kept a fire from destroying a three-story apartment building at the corner of Bailey and South Orchard Knob avenues, Garner said.
The first fire crews saw smoke and flames shooting from a second-floor window. Altogether, 12 fire companies were on the scene, Garner said.
No one appeared to be home and there were no injuries, he said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Some four hours later, five area fire departments were called to a large home in on Driftwood Road in Lakesite.
The homeowner told firefighters the fire began in a boat in the garage.
"There were eight antique cars in the garages and we were able to save five of them," Chief Marcus Fritts of the Dallas Bay department said. "But this 7,000-square-foot home spread rapidly with fire due to fuel from two boats, gun ammunition, etc. All three floors collapsed to the basement."
The crews worked all night but the house sustained an estimated $2 million in damage, Hamilton County Emergency Services spokeswoman Amy Maxwell said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Chattanooga fire crews were called out again about 4 a.m. for a house fire on Rubio Street, Garner said.
The resident woke up and smelled smoke. She woke her boyfriend and cousin and left the house. They stood outside while she ran back in for her three children, he said. It took nearly 45 minutes to control the blaze, Garner said.
No one was injured, and the American Red Cross is assisting the family with lodging, clothing and other necessities.
Finally, a house fire was reported on Lancaster Avenue in Red Bank at 9:30 a.m. The homeowners escaped without injury and the fire is under investigation, Maxwell said.