The U.S. Department of Energy is offering a reward for a wildfire on federal property on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017, west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive. Fireworks are suspected as the cause. (Photo courtesy DOE/City of Oak Ridge)
The City of Oak Ridge is offering a $500 reward for information that helps resolve what happened in a wildfire on federal property in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, a press release said. Fireworks are suspected as the cause of the fire.
The brush fire was reported on U.S. Department of Energy land at about 12:27 p.m. Saturday, March 25, west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive. It was below, or to the south of, a water tower near Whippoorwill Drive. There are homes just to the north of the water tower, and there are homes east of Wisconsin Avenue.
When firefighters arrived Saturday afternoon, they could not locate a fire, but there was smoke in the area, DOE said in a press release Tuesday.
“While the engine was looking for the fire, a hiker came down the trail and reported the fire was located several hundred yards off the road in the woods,” the press release said. “Engine 1 crew began hiking toward the reported location and was able to find the fire. At that time, the fire was approximately five acres and growing.”
The Oak Ridge Fire Department immediately requested assistance from the Tennessee Division of Forestry to respond with bulldozers to cut fire lines around the fire. The battalion chief also requested representatives from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Division of Forestry, since the fire was burning on U.S. Department of Energy property.
Firefighters began cutting fire lines around the fire until state forestry staff arrived with bulldozers. The trails were closed in the area and the fire was contained in about five hours after burning 20 acres.
Authorities suspect that fireworks were the potential cause of the fire, the press release said. Due to the proximity of the fire to residential housing in the area, a $500 reward is being offered by the City of Oak Ridge for information leading to resolution of the incident, the release said.
“The Department of Energy is very appreciative of the outstanding response by city and state agencies to Saturday’s fire event and, most importantly, that no one was injured,” said Kenneth R. Tarcza, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office Integrated Support Center. “Their quick response and expert work was key to keeping a careless act from becoming a larger issue. We are supportive of the city’s efforts to prevent future acts potentially endangering citizens by identifying those responsible for the fire, and urge all users of the Department’s Oak Ridge Reservation to help keep publicly accessible lands safe.â€
Members of the public are urged to contact the Oak Ridge Police Department at (865) 425-4399 with information regarding the incident.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
See previous story here.
A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017. The fire was on U.S. Department of Energy land south of Whippoorwill Drive and west of Wisconsin Avenue, in the area below (to the left of) the water tower pictured above. There are homes to the right of, or just north of, the water tower. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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Philip W Nipper says
Lots of resources and man power were expended during this event. I hope the person or persons responsible for starting the fire are given the opportunity to learn from their mistake via fines, community service and maybe, depending on the age of the perpetrator, even some incarceration time. Glad no one was hurt and no homes were lost. Kudos to those who responded.
Angi Agle says
True. Fireworks over woods in windy conditions are a very bad idea… save it for the 4th of July, and shoot them over a lake.
Dave Smith says
DOE spokesman: “We are supportive of the city’s efforts to prevent future acts potentially endangering citizens by identifying those responsible for the fire…”
Either he’s implying that an arson is on the loose and poised to burn again or his statement is nonsense. Identifying those responsible for the fire on Saturday won’t stop future [wildfires] any more than identifying and punishing the driver in a reckless driving accident will prevent future reckless driver accidents. The $500 offered as a reward might be better spent lobbying the state legislature to prohibit all sales of fireworks in Tennessee.
Regarding the action taken by the ORFD and the Tennessee Division of Forestry, wasn’t that action what we pay them to do? They did the job required of them and that was that. It’s worth asking whether the federal goverment intends to reimburse the COR for the cost of saving the forest. Their gratitude seems to be centered on the city’s efforts to apprehend and prosecute one or more (presumably) children.