Firefighters Free Homeowner From Flames

A man is fighting for his life Tuesday night after firefighters pull him from his burning home.  It happened around nine forty five last night on East 32nd Street.  Chattanooga Fire officials say 45 year old Philex Suttles was cooking, then fell asleep.  That's when the fire was sparked and Suttles was trapped, until firefighters freed him from the flames.

Dennis Mangrum describes the horrific scene he smelled just two doors down Monday evening.  "It was blazing pretty good in attic area, the smoke was coming out bad."

It was about 9:45 when Mangrum saw the blaze and called authorities."We started smelling smoke, so I got out from under the vehicle and went to the road and seen the house on fire and called 911 right away."

But Mangrum wasn't just concerned with the house, but the homeowner, Philex Suttles who he knew who trapped inside the flames.  "We was worried about him, I was trying every way to get him to come to the door, we was beating on it, me and Kyle."

But his neighbor never came out... and firefighters were forced to enter the burning building, trying to save Suttles.  "You can see where he tried to get up and he slid down the wall and the smoke just got to him probably."

Firefighters were able to pull him out, leaving Suttles to now fight for his life.  "He's not out of woods, he's in trauma unit, but they feel like he's making progress and right now everyone is praying for him and we feel like he's going to be okay."

Sharon Carter is not only Suttles homeowner, but good friend.  She says he it's clear by the damage that the blaze began in the kitchen, when Suttles fell asleep cooking.

Now friends just hope this fire won't be fatal.  Mangrum says, "It was good they got in there pretty quick because if they'd taken longer, he wouldn't have probably made it."

Carter adds, "Everybody's just praying, you can replace a house, but it's not a loss of life."

Fire officials say Suttles is still in cirtical condition and could be transferred to a burn unit.  They say there was not a working smoke detector in the home.