Who shows up when you call, and how to reach the right people - especially
outside the city limits.
All 911 calls in Hamilton County (including the city of Chattanooga) are
handled by HC911, the county's emergency communications district. They
dispatch police, fire, and EMS countywide.
- Call 911 for emergencies - fire, medical, crimes in progress, danger
to life or property.
- HC911 public dashboard: HC911 publishes a public live 911-call
dashboard on its website - you can watch calls come in by type and area
in near real time.
- Non-emergency: for non-urgent reports (a car blocking your driveway,
vandalism, noise) use the non-emergency line rather than 911. HC911
publishes a non-emergency numbers page
with the right line per agency. Note that non-emergency calls still route
into the same HC911 dispatch floor, and response can be slow (an hour or
more for non-urgent parking/tow issues is not unusual).
- Web: hamiltontn911.gov
¶ Power lines and objects
Never touch or attempt to retrieve a balloon, drone, toy, ladder, or other
object contacting an electric line. Report the location to EPB at
(423) 648-1372. If a line is down, keep away and do not drive over it;
call 911. EPB safety guidance
- Inside Chattanooga city limits: Chattanooga Police, Chattanooga
Fire, and Hamilton County EMS (the county runs EMS countywide).
- Unincorporated Hamilton County: Hamilton County Sheriff for law
enforcement, and fire coverage depends on your address - see below.
¶ Fire protection: paid vs volunteer, and the subscription trap
This is one of the most important things to understand when living outside
city limits:
- City fire departments (Chattanooga and the incorporated towns) are
paid, tax-funded, and respond to everyone in their coverage area.
- Volunteer fire departments cover many unincorporated communities, and
several operate as subscription fire departments - they charge a
yearly subscription fee per household (roughly $100-185/year,
varying by district - see the table below for each department's actual
rate). Departments respond to every call regardless of subscription
status, but a household that hasn't paid may be billed for the
emergency response, usually at standard FEMA rate schedules.
- How the county fits in: Hamilton County contributes to each volunteer
department's operating budget, but usually only a fraction of the total.
Under Tennessee Code § 5-17-101(d)(3), a county that maintains a
written mutual aid agreement with every municipality inside its borders
may fund up to 50% of the cost of providing fire services to
unincorporated areas from county general funds. Hamilton County qualifies,
but in practice most departments report far less - e.g. Tri-Community
says only ~15% of its budget comes from the county, and the county has
also handed out one-time capital grants (a $500,000 pool split among VFDs
in 2023). The subscriptions are how most departments actually stay funded.
This is standard for rural Hamilton County areas (Harrison, Georgetown,
Birchwood, Apison, Sale Creek, Mowbray, and similar unincorporated
communities).
- When you move anywhere outside the city: ask who covers your exact
address, pay the fire subscription immediately, and keep the receipt.
Rural homes also mean longer EMS/fire response times - minutes matter.
- Check your address: Tennessee's Fire District Tool
(tnmap.tn.gov/fdtn) lets you look up any
address and see exactly which fire district covers it, plus the response
area and dispatch details.
The map below shows the consolidated fire response areas for all 14 fire
agencies in Hamilton County (source: Hamilton County GIS, 2026). Each
agency's many sub-districts have been merged into a single area. Click any
area to see who covers it.
Reading the map: each color is one fire agency's response area. The big
green area is Chattanooga Fire (city + contracted zones). The other
colors are the county's volunteer and municipal departments. Note that
municipal departments (East Ridge, Red Bank, Signal Mountain,
Soddy-Daisy, Lookout Mountain) are paid, tax-funded departments even though
they sit in the county - the volunteer departments are the ones that
charge subscriptions. The response areas come from Hamilton County GIS; use
tnmap.tn.gov/fdtn to confirm the department
for a specific address.
| Department |
Type |
Subscription (2026) |
Website |
| Chattanooga Fire Dept |
Paid / municipal |
No subscription - tax-funded |
chattanooga.gov |
| East Ridge Fire Rescue |
Paid / municipal |
No subscription - tax-funded |
eastridgetn.gov/fire_rescue |
| Red Bank Fire Dept |
Paid / municipal |
No subscription - tax-funded |
redbanktn.gov |
| Signal Mountain Fire Dept |
Paid / municipal |
No subscription - tax-funded |
signalmountaintn.gov |
| Soddy-Daisy Fire Dept |
Paid / municipal |
No subscription - tax-funded |
soddy-daisy.org |
| Lookout Mountain Fire Dept |
Paid / municipal |
No subscription - tax-funded |
lookoutmtn.us |
| Highway 58 VFD |
Volunteer |
$150 cash/check, $155 online |
hwy58firedepartment.org |
| Tri-Community VFD |
Volunteer |
$183 primary residence; $180 each additional; $75/outbuilding |
tricommunityfire.com |
| Dallas Bay Fire & Rescue |
Volunteer |
$100/yr (or $50 semi-annually) |
dallasbayfd.com |
| Sale Creek VFD |
Volunteer |
Contact dept (423-332-2424) |
salecreekvfd.com |
| Sequoyah VFD |
Volunteer |
Donation/subscription; contact dept |
svfdtn.com |
| Mowbray Mountain VFD |
Volunteer |
Contact dept (423-332-0965) |
mowbrayfiredepartment.com |
| Flat Top Mountain VFD |
Volunteer |
Contact dept (423-332-5958) |
Facebook only |
| Walden Fire Dept (Walden's Ridge) |
Volunteer |
Contact dept (423-886-5974) |
wres.org |
Subscription fees are per the departments' own 2026 pages and change each
year - always confirm with the department before you rely on the number.
Notable details:
- Highway 58 VFD covers ~112 sq mi / ~15,000 homes around Harrison,
Hixson, and along the river east of Chattanooga; operates 5 stations.
Subscriptions cover the shortfall after the county allotment.
- Tri-Community VFD (Ooltewah / Collegedale / Apison / Standifer Gap) is
the county's biggest volunteer department - a >$3M/year budget, only ~15%
from the county, the rest from subscriptions and donations. 6+ stations.
- Dallas Bay Fire & Rescue serves Middle Valley / Dallas Bay / Lakesite
(46 sq mi); ISO Class 2, which keeps homeowner insurance premiums low.
- Walden's Ridge Emergency Service (WRES) serves the Town of Walden and
unincorporated Signal Mountain; also does EMS first response.
Hydrant note: not every rural area has hydrants. The county's hydrant
inventory shows the Tennessee-American Water service area has the most;
many unincorporated communities rely on tanker trucks and dry hydrants. If
you're outside the city, ask your fire department about your water supply.
Fire departments in Hamilton County operate on mutual aid - a big fire
in one department's area will pull apparatus from neighboring departments
(including the city). So your local department is your primary responder,
but a large incident will bring countywide resources.
- The county operates countywide ambulance / EMS service, including
paramedic (ALS) units. EMS responds regardless of your fire subscription
status - ambulance service is billed to you or your insurance, with
county ambulance fees.
- Response levels (lights/sirens) are set by the nature of the call, not
your address or who you are.
- EMS units are stationed across the county (the "Medic" stations on the
county's emergency-services map); a call outside the city may have a
longer ambulance travel time.
TVA's Sequoyah Nuclear Plant sits ~7 miles east of Soddy-Daisy. It has
its own emergency-alert system and evacuation planning. See
Sequoyah Nuclear & Emergency Preparedness
for what the sirens mean, the monthly tests, and the evacuation routes.
- Erlanger downtown - the Level 1 trauma center; the default for major
trauma and children's emergencies. See Healthcare.
- CommonSpirit / Memorial (Chattanooga, Hixson, and the 24/7 North Georgia
ER in Ringgold).
- Parkridge downtown and Parkridge East.
- Know your nearest ER before you need it - especially in the county,
where the drive can be 30+ minutes.
The Hamilton County 911 information on this page applies to Hamilton
County, Tennessee. Georgia addresses are dispatched through the
appropriate Georgia 911 center. Call 911 for an emergency and be ready to
give the exact street address, city, and county.
For non-emergencies, use the agency serving that jurisdiction:
Do not use Hamilton County non-emergency numbers for a Georgia address.
- 911 - emergencies
- Non-emergency dispatch - non-urgent reports (noise, vandalism,
past-tense crime). All lines route to the same HC911 floor; use your
agency's number
(HC911 non-emergency numbers):
- Ambulance (Hamilton County EMS): (423) 622-7777
- Law enforcement: Chattanooga PD (423) 698-2525; Sheriff /
unincorporated county (423) 622-0022; East Ridge (423) 622-1725;
Red Bank (423) 877-2481; Signal Mountain (423) 886-2123; Soddy-Daisy
(423) 332-3577; Collegedale (423) 396-3133; Lookout Mountain
(423) 821-3151
- Fire (non-emergency): Chattanooga (423) 266-2753; East Ridge
(423) 622-1725; Lookout Mountain (423) 821-4131; Red Bank
(423) 877-1711; Signal Mountain (423) 886-2122; Soddy-Daisy
(423) 332-5215; all other county locations (423) 622-7777
- HC911 itself: administration (423) 622-1911, operations & training
(423) 697-0910 (Mon–Fri, 8am–4pm)
- 311 - city services (missed trash, potholes, etc.)
- Poison control: 1-800-222-1222
- TVA Sequoyah emergency info line: (423) 843-7839 / 1-800-467-1388
Fire subscription requirements are per-district and change - confirm your
address's provider and pay early. If you have specific fire-department
details (which departments are volunteer, what they charge), add them here.
Last updated: September 2026.