Oak Ridge Today

Report: Discarded cigarette starts fire in truck’s cargo area on I-75

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A discarded cigarette that was still lit started a fire in the cargo area of a commercial truck on Interstate 75 on Friday night, authorities said.

The cigarette was discarded by an unknown motorist who threw it out of an unknown vehicle, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Steve Owens said in a report. It landed in the cargo area of a 2013 Ford F3D commercial truck owned by Classic Installs of Knoxville and driven by employee Ryan A. Johnson, the report said.

Johnson was driving south on I-75 near mile marker 121, just south of the Clinton exit, when he saw flames coming from the cargo area of his truck. He quickly pulled over to investigate and called for police and fire help at about 10 p.m. Friday. [Read more…]

Guest column: Good things continue to happen in Andersonville

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Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department Fire Truck

Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department Fire Truck

 

By Theresa Scott

The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department recently had a task to complete. Assistant Fire Chief Brian Casto took a crew to Oak Ridge. Upon arrival at the City of Oak Ridge’s main building, Assistant Chief Casto was directed to the Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson’s office. It was time for the papers to be signed. The title needed to be transferred and keys handed over. Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley was there to give further verbal instructions.

While the department heads were inside signing documents and discussing the final technicalities, the crew waited outside. However, without patience, they were found opening doors to compartments, checking out gauges, wiping off the windshield, checking out the view from the driver’s seat of the big yellow fire truck. This big, yellow Quality fire truck is going into full service but in a different zip code. It will still get the same hands-on care that it always had, but now it will be with a new crew out in the country. Perhaps out in the country, but still in the same county. The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department was getting one of the surplus trucks. Most of the crew were laughing and chatting like a bunch of children on Christmas morning.  The excitement was obvious.

Thank you to the City of Oak Ridge for keeping this (as well as the one that was recently transferred to our Medford Volunteer Fire Department) in our county. It is important that we continue to pay it forward amongst ourselves as we may very well need to depend on it sometime in the future. The residents of Andersonville are very fortunate to have such caring volunteers. These men and women put their lives on the line when called to the scene of an automobile accident, a working residential or commercial property fire, or even to the water if there’s been a boating accident. [Read more…]

Electrical problem blamed for Andersonville house fire

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Tuesday morning fire destroyed a house in Andersonville but injured no one, according to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies were among those who responded to a fire at 334 Brooks Gap Road shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday.  When deputies arrived, they found crews from the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department battling the blaze, which had completely engulfed the structure.

The home’s owner, Darryl Webber, told officials that his father had passed away last year and left him the house, which he said he checked on every day to make sure it was okay, adding that three lights were continuously left on inside the home. [Read more…]

Tuesday fire apparently started in kitchen microwave

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A Tuesday night fire on Bland Road in Anderson County apparently started in a kitchen microwave, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, and the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department responded.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Michael A. Poole said he saw smoke pouring out of the front door of the home when he arrived, but no visible flames. Firefighters were already inside trying to extinguish the fire. [Read more…]

No one injured, but three briefly trapped by factory roof collapse

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Pharma Packaging Roof Collapse

The factory roof at Pharma Packaging in Andersonville collapsed on Saturday night. Three workers were briefly trapped, but no one was injured.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:47 p.m.

ANDERSONVILLE—No one was injured, but three workers were briefly trapped when a roof collapsed at a factory in Andersonville on Saturday, possibly because of ice and snow buildup, authorities said.

The roof collapse was reported at about 7:40 p.m. Saturday. Seven people were inside the Carton Service/Pharma Packaging building on First Quality Drive at the time, said Del Kennedy, chief of the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department.

Four workers were able to make it out, and firefighters had to help the other three escape from a break room, near the front of the building, at the edge of the factory space behind it. All the workers were in or near the break room at the time of the collapse, Kennedy said.

He estimated that 50 percent of the roof, which was about 40 feet above the factory floor, had collapsed over that portion of the building. There was only a small crew working at the time, Kennedy said. [Read more…]

Andersonville home destroyed by fire

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Information from WYSH Radio

A fire early Wednesday morning destroyed a home in Andersonville.

The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department was called to the home on Foust Hollow Lane at around 1 a.m. and had the fire extinguished about an hour and a half later.

One person inside the home at the time of the fire was able to make it out safely, and no injuries were reported. Officials deemed the house a total loss and are continuing to investigate to determine the cause of the early-morning blaze.