Oak Ridge Today

State: Sprinkler system saves lives in Oak Ridge assisted living fire

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Patriot Park Assisted Living Fire

Firefighters remove water from Patriot Park Assisted Living on Gum Hollow Road after putting out a small bed fire Friday evening. The fire was kept in check by a sprinkler system before Oak Ridge firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames.

An Oak Ridge assisted living center is thankful for its sprinkler system after a fire broke out on the premises Friday, state officials said Wednesday. All residents were safely evacuated and property damage contained to one room because of the sprinkler system.

This news comes at the same time as investigators comb through the fire-devastated ruins of an assisted living community in L’isle Verte, Quebec. where 25 residents lost their lives. The major difference between the two fires is that the assisted living building in Oak Ridge was equipped with a working sprinkler system, a press release said.

“The damage to the building was minimal, and no residents were displaced,” Oak Ridge Fire Department Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said of the Friday evening fire at Patriot Park Assisted Living on Gum Hollow Road. “Without the sprinkler system, we believe the outcome would be very different.” [Read more…]

ORHS staff seizes electronic stun device from 15-year-old student

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.

Note: This story was updated at 8:18 p.m. to correct the age of the student.

Oak Ridge High School staff members seized an electronic stun device from an 15-year-old student in the cafeteria on Tuesday, authorities said.

The ORHS staff notified the Oak Ridge Police Department, which responded, took possession of the device, and interviewed the suspect, a press release said. The student was later released to a guardian.

The student did not threaten anyone with the device, and no injuries were reported, the release said. ORPD is investigating the incident, and charges are pending for the possession of a prohibited weapon on school grounds.

The incident occurred at lunchtime Tuesday.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Firehouse Subs Foundation donates equipment to ORFD, Roane County

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Firehouse Subs and Oak Ridge Fire Department Thermal Imaging Camera

Above, representatives of Firehouse Subs present a $10,000 thermal imaging camera to the Oak Ridge Fire Department in January. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Fire Department)

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation recently donated a thermal imaging camera worth more than $10,000 to Oak Ridge Fire Department.

The foundation also donated first-aid kits and six automated external defibrillators, worth a total of more than $10,200, to Roane County Sheriff’s Office.

The equipment was presented in ceremonies at Firehouse Subs in Oak Ridge and Lenoir City.

The thermal imaging camera donated to ORFD will detect body heat and hot spots in burning buildings, allowing firefighters to reach victims quickly and put out deadly fires. [Read more…]

Found in Woodland: Black-and-white pot-bellied pig

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Pot-bellied Pig on Nasson Lane

A black-and-white female pot-bellied pig roams loose on Nasson Lane in Woodland on Monday morning.

Note: This story was updated at 1:53 p.m.

A black-and-white pot-bellied pig roaming loose in Woodland was picked up by animal control officers and taken to the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter on Monday morning.

The slow-moving female pig roamed through several yards on Nasson Lane before it was corralled in a a backyard, where it was picked up by an animal control officer.

It wasn’t clear where the pig came from. It did not have a collar or identification tags.

Some people keep pot-bellied pigs as pets and one officer said he has encountered them before, although it’s not clear if they would be allowed in the center of the city. [Read more…]

Fire destroys two-story home in Blair

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Keys Drive Fire

A fire on Keys Drive early Friday morning destroyed a home in Blair in Roane County. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Information from photographer Tom Scott

A fire on Keys Drive early Friday morning destroyed a home in Blair in Roane County.

The fire was reported at 160 Keys Drive  in the Blair community at about 1:15 a.m. Friday.

The two-story wooden frame house was heavily involved in fire upon the arrival of the first Blair Fire Department units. The Oliver Springs and Midtown fire departments responded on a request for mutual aid. [Read more…]

No injuries, but residents briefly evacuated for small fire at assisted living center

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Patriot Park Assisted Living Fire

Firefighters remove water from Patriot Park Assisted Living on Gum Hollow Road after putting out a small bed fire Friday evening.

Note: This story was updated at 8 p.m.

There were no injuries, but residents were briefly evacuated after a bed caught fire at an assisted living center in west Oak Ridge on Friday.

The fire at Patriot Park Assisted Living on Gum Hollow Road was reported at about 6 p.m. Friday. The building’s sprinkler system kept it in check, and crews were able to put out the fire, which was confined to one room, in about three minutes with a 1.75-inch water line, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

There were 13 patients and two staff members in the building. Patients were put into ambulances and checked out, and everyone was okay, Kerley said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. [Read more…]

Driver who died in Thursday crash was EMT, volunteer firefighter

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Colton Alexander Stout

Colton Alexander Stout

Note: This story was last updated at 8:55 p.m.

Police have identified the driver who died in a Thursday morning crash on Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge.

Colton Alexander Stout, 20, of Oak Ridge, died after his 1994 Toyota 4Runner left the four-lane divided roadway and crashed into a tree in the median, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

The crash occurred at about 9:21 a.m. Thursday just north of Midland Road. That’s between Emory Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Lafeyette Drive.

The front end of Stout’s vehicle hit the tree and the 4Runner then rolled onto its right side. Stout was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, but he died enroute, ORPD Officer Nathan Stinnett said in the report. [Read more…]

Seattle man arrested during Y-12 protest crossed blue trespass line, police say

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Christopher Ryan Spicer Arrest at Y-12

Christopher Ryan Spicer of Seattle was arrested and charged with criminal trespass at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Ralph Hutchison)

The Seattle man who was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Sunday had repeatedly failed to comply with police commands, and he crossed a blue trespass line at the main entrance to the nuclear weapons plant, authorities said.

Christopher Ryan Spicer, 31, was participating in a weekly protest at Y-12 at about 6 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Bear Creek and Scarboro roads. This protest was significant because it occurred less than two days before the scheduled sentencing of the three protesters who broke into Y-12 in July 2012 and spray-painted slogans and splashed blood on a uranium storage building.

Dozens of people came to Knoxville from across the country for the Tuesday sentencing of the three: Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli. However, it was postponed to Feb. 18 because of snow.

Christopher Ryan Spicer

Christopher Ryan Spicer

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer James Elkins said Spicer was among the protesters on Sunday evening before he crossed a street and walked toward the Y-12 guard shack. Spicer repeatedly failed to comply with orders given by him and ORPD Sgt. Roy Heinz, Elkins said in a warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. The officers told Spicer to stop as he approached the blue trespass line at the federal site, Elkins said. [Read more…]

Fire causes heavy damage to Anderson County home, RV, trailer

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Cedar Hills Drive Fire

A Wednesday morning fire on Cedar Hills Drive in Anderson County heavily damaged a home, RV, and camping trailer.

The fire was reported at about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday at 210 Cedar Hills Drive. It apparently started in the attic, according to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department report. The cause was not known, but it was not believed to be an arson, the report said.

A witness who lives nearby reported seeing flames coming out of the attic. [Read more…]

Back roads still have ice and snow, so Anderson schools closed again Friday

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Many Anderson County back roads are still covered with ice and snow, so the school system will be closed again Friday, officials said.

The closure is for the safety of the students, the Anderson County school system said in a statement. The schools closed early Tuesday and have been closed since as snow, ice, and cold temperatures wreaked havoc across the Southeast, particularly in Atlanta.

Many other school systems in East Tennessee, including Oak Ridge, also closed early on Tuesday when it started snowing and remained closed on Wednesday. Oak Ridge students returned to classes on Thursday, although there was a two-hour delay. [Read more…]

Driver dies after vehicle crashes into tree on Lafayette Drive

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Lafayette Drive Fatal Crash into Tree

A southbound Toyota 4Runner crashed into a tree in the median of Lafayette Drive Thursday morning, and the driver died on the way to a Knoxville hospital. Above, workers remove the tree from the road after the driver was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

The driver of a Toyota 4Runner died on the way to a Knoxville hospital Thursday morning after crashing into a tree on Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge, authorities said.

The single-vehicle crash occurred at about 9:22 a.m. Thursday on Lafayette Drive between Hendrix Drive and South Illinois Avenue, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. The red sports utility vehicle was driving south when it left the roadway and struck a tree in the median between the southbound and northbound lanes.

“The driver was removed from the vehicle and was unresponsive when police and rescue arrived,” the ORPD said. “The driver of the vehicle expired while being transported to University of Tennessee Hospital. No further information will be released pending notification of family members, and the investigation remains ongoing.” [Read more…]

Not many weather-related issues in Anderson County, sheriff’s department says

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The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said it has not had many weather-related issues during the past few days as snow fell in East Tennessee and temperatures dipped again into the teens—and even lower.

“A few reports of traffic-related incidents such as cars in the ditch, but only one accident that had minor injuries,” Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said in an e-mail to reporters.

Lucas said most primary roads and state routes are clear, but many rural roads are still icy and snow-covered. [Read more…]