Oak Ridge Today

Wildfire that burned 18 acres in west Oak Ridge is contained

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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. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017. The fire was on the Oak Ridge Reservation, 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. Smoke from the fire is visible near the water tower. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon.

The fire was reported on the Oak Ridge Reservation, U.S. Department of Energy land, at about 12:27 p.m. Saturday. It was west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive.

Firefighters initially reported it as about a five-acre fire in a cut between two ridges, said Ray Burney, Oak Ridge Fire Department captain. There is a trail down there, Burney said.

The fire was below East Ridge Boundary Road near a water tower in west Oak Ridge. It emitted smoke that could be seen hanging over neighborhood streets and above the trees from several miles away.

At about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oak Ridge Fire Department crews were cutting fire lines with hand rakes, Burney said. To contain fires, firefighters rake down to the dirt in a containment line that is about three to four feet wide. [Read more…]

Shutting door during bedroom fire likely saved rest of house, firefighter says

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A fire was reported at 612 Johnson Road on the southwest side of Oliver Springs on Thursday morning, March 23, 2017. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A fire was reported at 612 Johnson Road on the southwest side of Oliver Springs on Thursday morning, March 23, 2017. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

A woman who shut a bedroom door after finding an electrical outlet on fire in a bedroom Thursday morning likely prevented further damage to her house, a firefighter said.

“This woman saved her own house,” said Toby Leinart, Oliver Springs Fire Department lieutenant. Leinart was the incident commander at the fire at the home at 612 Johnson Road on the southwest side of Oliver Springs at about 6:16 a.m. Thursday.

The female resident apparently closed the bedroom door out of instinct, putting the door between herself and danger, Leinart said. Firefighters say a closed door is one of the best pieces of firefighting and lifesaving equipment because it can reduce fire growth and spread, limit damage to a home, and possibly save lives.

“I believe that’s what saved her house today and reduced her damage down to one bedroom,” Leinart said. “I would just about guarantee that’s what saved the rest of her house.”

It’s advice that’s been shared by the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office in a “Close the Door” campaign. Even if you escape from your house during a fire, shut the door when you leave if you can, firefighters say. That will help limit oxygen to the fire. (Firefighters also recommend sleeping with bedroom doors closed if possible, and keeping fire doors closed.) [Read more…]

County taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge

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Anderson-County-General-Sessions-Court-Exterior-Nov-19-2015

Anderson County officials are taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge from a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road, pictured above, to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:50 p.m.

Anderson County officials are taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge from a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road.

An 18-month lease on the current privately owned building, where the court has been since 2009, expires in June, officials said Wednesday.

Renovations are planned at the county-owned building on Emory Valley Road before the court moves there. Bid packages for the renovation work could go out to contractors this week, and the bid could be awarded in mid-April, said Anderson County Commissioner Phil Yager, one of two commissioners who represent District 8 in Oak Ridge.

The renovation work could take two to three months, Yager said. Michael Brady Inc., a Knoxville architectural firm helping Anderson County, has estimated the renovations could cost around $300,000. [Read more…]

Attempted murder charge dismissed, woman pleads guilty to aggravated assault

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Treasure Sheitel Threat

Treasure Sheitel Threat

An attempted murder charge was dismissed, and an Oak Ridge woman pleaded guilty to aggravated assault this month.

Treasure Sheitel Threat, 30, had been indicted on charges of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in October 2013. She was accused of stabbing Kingston resident Stanley Wallace in the stomach in his car at the intersection of Robin Lane and Raleigh Road on July 27, 2012, after an argument in Grove Center.

Arrest warrants filed in 2012 said another woman had summoned Threat to Grove Center, but she forgot that Wallace and Threat didn’t like each other. [Read more…]

Man allegedly armed with rifle when police respond pleads to simple assault

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Robert Eugene Foreman

Robert Eugene Foreman

The man allegedly armed with a rifle when the Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a family disturbance on Norton Road in January has pleaded guilty to simple assault.

Robert E. Foreman III, 37, had initially been charged with aggravated assault.

A warrant filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said police responded to the family disturbance at a home on Norton Road at about 6:19 p.m. Thursday, January 12. Luethge and the victim, ORPD Officer Daniel Freytag, were approaching the front door of the home when Freytag said, “He’s got a rifle,” according to the warrants.

“Officer Freytag stated, through the front door, he saw the defendant, Robert E. Foreman III, who shouted at him angrily and ran into the bedroom and returned with a rifle,” the warrant said. “He stated that the defendant stood in the front door, armed with the rifle, and racked the bolt of the rifle and demanded: ‘Get off my property.'”

Fearing for his life, Freytag began retreating from the front door, seeking cover, “believing he was in immediate danger from the defendant,” the warrant said. [Read more…]

TBI seeks public’s help finding missing teen, offers reward

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Elizabeth Thomas Amber Alert

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues to seek the public’s help in finding a teenager missing from Middle Tennessee, and the agency is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the capture of the teacher who is suspected of kidnapping her.

“Efforts to locate missing high school freshman Elizabeth Thomas remain active and ongoing as the concern about her relationship with former teacher Tad Cummins—and his intentions for her—only heighten the urgency surrounding this ongoing AMBER Alert in Tennessee and Alabama,” the TBI said Saturday.

Thomas, 15, disappeared on Monday, March 13, and she is believed to have been kidnapped by 50-year-old Tad Cummins, a former teacher at her school in Maury County, Tennessee, the TBI said. Cummins has been added to the state’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” list.

On Tuesday, the school district in Maury County terminated Cummins in the wake of an ongoing investigation into alleged inappropriate contact he had with Thomas at the school earlier this year, the TBI said.

Maury County is south of Nashville. [Read more…]

Chief Deputy Lucas running for Anderson County sheriff

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Mark Lucas

Mark Lucas

 

Anderson County Chief Deputy Mark Lucas announced Tuesday that he is running for sheriff in the 2018 election.

Anderson County Sheriff Paul White is retiring at the end of his third term, which ends in August 2018, a press release said.

The press release said Lucas is a veteran law enforcement officer with 39 years of experience. He began his career as a reserve deputy with Knox County in 1978. He joined the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department a year later and worked as a dispatcher and a jailer before being assigned to patrol in 1980. Lucas was promoted to patrol supervisor in 1986 and held that position until 1990. From 1990 until 1994, he worked for the Clinton Police Department, where he also served as patrol supervisor.

In 1994, Lucas was appointed chief deputy with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and he has held that position for more than 22 years. He has the unique distinction of serving as chief deputy under three different sheriffs, the press release said.

The release said Lucas has received extensive training in many areas of law enforcement throughout his career including command-level management and supervision.

“From community policing to criminal investigations, jail management, and court security, as well as communications, incident command, and emergency management, Mark has a vast knowledge of public safety operations,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Unknown suspect with knife robs Staybridge Suites

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An unknown suspect armed with a knife robbed the Staybridge Suites on South Illinois Avenue on Sunday night, authorities said.

The robbery was reported at the hotel at about 10:42 p.m. Sunday, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department summary.

The suspect took $100 from the business and placed a victim in “fear of imminent bodily harm,” the summary said.

Police have not yet made an arrest in the alleged robbery.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

THP: Man, 25, charged with DUI after pedestrian killed on Clinton Highway

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Isaac Alexander Irwin

Isaac Alexander Irwin

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11 a.m. March 13.

A 25-year-old Clinton man has been charged with driving under the influence, driving while license revoked or suspended, and hit and run of a person after a 35-year-old Jacksboro woman, a pedestrian, was killed on Clinton Highway early Sunday, authorities said.

The car-pedestrian crash was reported at about 12:58 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Clinton Highway and West Wolf Valley Road in Claxton, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a fatal crash report.

Isaac A. Irwin, 25, of Reynolds Avenue in Clinton, was driving south on Clinton Highway in a 2006 Pontiac four-door sedan when he struck a pedestrian, Jade T. Richardson, 35, of Jacksboro, in one of the lanes, the THP report said.

Irwin was not injured and he left the crash, but he was located later, the THP said. [Read more…]

Two people have minor injuries after two fires this month

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A fire was reported in a storage room at Tennessee Tool and Engineering (TTE Casting Technologies Inc.) in Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge at about 3:40 p.m. Thursday, March 9, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A fire was reported in a storage room at Tennessee Tool and Engineering (TTE Casting Technologies Inc.) in Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge at about 3:40 p.m. Thursday, March 9, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Two people were injured in fires in Oak Ridge this month, although the injuries were reported to be minor.

The first fire was reported at 515 Utica Circle in central Oak Ridge at about 3:33 p.m. Friday, March 3. One adult was taken by an ambulance to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, said Sergeant Jeremy Huddleston of the Oak Ridge Police Department. The fire was extinguished by the Oak Ridge Fire Department.

ORFD Battalion Chief Eric Rackard said a stove eye that had been left on in the second-floor apartment started a fire in grease in a pan. The resident tried to bring the pan outside to throw it outside, but the grease was burning too much for the resident to be able to handle the pan properly, Rackard said.

The fire burned the resident’s arm, Rackard said. The injuries were described as minor. The fire was deemed to be accidental.

The second fire was reported at Tennessee Tool and Engineering (TTE Casting Technologies Inc.) in Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge at about 3:40 p.m. Thursday. That fire started in a storage room, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said. [Read more…]

Small quantity of explosives, used for training, reported missing

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A submitted photo of the item reported missing. The cell phone in the photo is for a size reference only; there was no cell phone with the substance In the cotton bag.

A submitted photo of the item reported missing. The cell phone in the photo is for size reference only; there was no cell phone with the substance in the cotton bag.

 

K-9 Search On Site LLP has reported missing a small quantity of explosives within the City of Oak Ridge. The substance, which is used for training purposes, is believed to have been lost during transportation in the vicinity of Scarboro Road between Bethel Valley and Illinois Avenue, a press release said. The substance is contained in a small cotton bag.

The training substance was discovered missing on Friday, March 10. The Oak Ridge Police Department and other federal authorities were notified Friday evening and searches are under way, the press release said.

Members of the public are urged to contact the Oak Ridge Police Department at (865) 425-3605 or 425-4399 if a suspicious object is found in this area. Residents are warned to not handle the training substance, but to promptly report its discovery to the Oak Ridge Police Department, the press release said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Warrants: Driver who crashed stolen car into river had slurred speech, trouble staying awake

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Darrell Wayne Bouck

Darrell Wayne Bouck

 

CLAXTON—The Knoxville man who crashed a car reported as stolen into Bull Run Creek on Wednesday, prompting a nighttime search of the water with the help of divers, had slurred speech and trouble staying awake, authorities said.

Darrell Wayne Bouck Jr., 38, of Byington Solway Road, has been charged with driving under the influence; theft of more than $1,000; stolen plate; no driver’s license; and a due care violation, according to traffic citations, arrest warrants, and a preliminary crash report by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The license plate and the vehicle, identified as a 2003 Honda Civic in the traffic citations, had been reported stolen in Knox County, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

The single-vehicle crash was reported at about 7:53 p.m. Wednesday on New Henderson Road in Claxton, near Bull Run Park. [Read more…]