Oak Ridge Today

Air quality forecast for Wednesday: Unhealthy

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The air quality forecast on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, is unhealthy for East Tennessee, including the Knoxville area, as forest fires continue to burn in the Southeast, including in East Tennessee. Yellow is moderate, orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups, and red is unhealthy. (Image courtesy AirNow.gov)

 

The air quality forecast on Wednesday is unhealthy for East Tennessee, including the Knoxville area, as forest fires continue to burn in the Southeast, including in East Tennessee.

The air quality conditions in the Knoxville area at about noon Wednesday were moderate, according to AirNow.gov.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said the unhealthy air quality conditions will continue across must of the area into today. People with lung disease such as asthma and children and older adults should avoid prolonged outdoor exposure to the smoke, the Weather Service said.

“Everyone should limit prolonged outdoor exertion,” the NWS said. [Read more…]

Readers ask: Is it okay to grill during burn ban?

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More than 4,000 acres have burned this month in six fires in rugged, forested parts of north Anderson County, state officials said. Smoke hangs high in the air above the mountains north of Oliver Springs on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A few readers have had questions about whether it is okay to cook on a grill while the burn ban is in effect. There has been some confusion because various burn bans have been announced, and they often haven’t included information about grilling.

One burn ban announced Monday by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam bans burning in 51 counties because of the ongoing drought and continuing forest fires. The burn ban includes all eastern Tennessee counties, including Anderson, Campbell, Loudon, Knox, Morgan, Roane, Scott, and Union. Residents in those counties are not permitted to conduct any open-air burning. The ban includes campfires and burning of brush, vegetation, household waste, or construction debris. The ban will remain in effect until December 15. [Read more…]

Update: Three charged after Oak Ridge shooting, victim stable

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The Oak Ridge Police Department investigates a shooting on East Holston Lane at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 5:45 p.m.

Three people have been charged with especially aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and conspiracy after a Tuesday afternoon shooting on East Holston Lane, authorities said.

The three people are:

  • Nicholas Strickland, 25, of Oak Ridge;
  • Matthew A. Mashburn, 27, of Knox County; and
  • Nicole Brewer, 19, of Oak Ridge.

The victim of the shooting is male, but his name is not being released, the City of Oak Ridge said. He has been taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for further treatment and is listed in stable condition. [Read more…]

TVA issues burn ban on all its public lands in Tennessee Valley

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Firefighting crews are using helicopters with 500-gallon water baskets to battle wildfires all around the region. They often use water from nearby lakes, like Douglas in East Tennessee, which is near fires in the Cherokee National Forest. (Photo: Tennessee National Guard via TVA)

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority has issued a burn ban on all of the public lands, recreation areas, and facility reservations it manages in seven states in the Tennessee Valley. The burn ban is to help ensure public safety during the continuing dry conditions, TVA said in a press release.

“Until further notice, all open flames are prohibited—including campfires, barbeques, smoking, or any other flame-producing activity—as well as vehicle parking on non-paved or gravel surfaces,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge man killed when car crashes into tree stumps, house

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Note: This story was last updated at 10:10 a.m.

A 25-year-old Oak Ridge man died Monday night after a car crashed into tree stumps on East Wolf Valley Road, overturned into a parked car, and hit a house, authorities said.

The man was identified as Albert W. Brown, 25, of Oak Ridge.

He was a passenger in a 2001 Audi ATQ driven by Mark E. Floer, 52, of Heiskell, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The THP said Floer was driving the Audi east on East Wolf Valley Road at about 10:45 p.m. Monday when he left the right side of the roadway, hit two tree stumps, overturned and hit a parked 1998 Ford Escape and then a house. [Read more…]

Two serious crashes, one fatal, reported in Anderson County on Monday

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Two serious crashes, one of them fatal, were reported in Anderson County on Monday, authorities said.

The first two-vehicle crash was reported at about 9:30 p.m. Monday on Yarnell Road near East Wolf Valley Road. Three people were injured, and all three were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville by ambulance, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

The second crash, a fatal crash, was reported at about 10:45 p.m. Monday on East Wolf Valley Road near Nolan Lane. The car ran off the road and hit a home, Lucas said. One person was killed, and the other was transported to the UT Medical Center. [Read more…]

Air quality forecast for Tuesday: Unhealthy for sensitive groups

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The air quality forecast for Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. Yellow areas are moderate, orange areas are unhealthy for sensitive groups, and red is unhealthy. (Image courtesy AirNow.gov)

 

The air quality forecast for the Knoxville area on Tuesday is again unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The air quality in the Knoxville area at about 8 a.m. Tuesday was unhealthy due to particle pollution, according to AirNow.gov. That means people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.

Unhealthy for sensitive groups means the general public is not likely to be affected, but people with lung disease, older adults, and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, while people with heart and lung disease, older adults, and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air.

The poor air quality in the the Knoxville and Chattanooga metropolitan areas, as well as in the Great Smoky Mountains, is due to smoke from wildfires.

“Everyone should limit prolonged outdoor exertion,” the National Weather Service in Morristown said Tuesday. [Read more…]

Governor issues regional burn ban, including Anderson, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane

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A Chinook helicopter drops water near a home to protect it from an advancing wildfire on Neddy Mountain in Cocke County on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016. (Photo by Tennessee Division of Forestry)

 

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam on Monday issued a proclamation declaring a regional ban on burning in 51 counties in response to the ongoing drought and destructive wildfires throughout Middle and East Tennessee.

All eastern Tennessee counties are now under the burn ban. The counties include Anderson, Campbell, Loudon, Knox, Morgan, Roane, Scott, and Union.

Effective immediately, residents in counties covered by the regional ban are not permitted to conduct any open-air burning, a press release said. The ban includes campfires, and burning of brush, vegetation, household waste, or construction debris. The ban will remain in effect until December 15. The counties under the ban are listed below.

On Monday, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry was fighting 67 wildfires across nearly 16,000 acres in the Cumberland and East Tennessee districts.

One of the largest active fires in the area was a 2,432-acre fire on White Oak Circle in Morgan County. That fire was caused by arson, according to the Division of Forestry. That fire appears to be northwest of Harriman and Oakdale. [Read more…]

Smoky haze continues, unhealthy air conditions forecast for today

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Poor air quality will exist today along the Great Smoky Mountains and the Knoxville and Chattanooga metropolitan areas due to smoke from wildfires. Everyone should pay attention to their body and limit prolonged outdoor activities. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)

 

A smoky haze continues in East Tennessee, and an air quality alert has been issued for much of the Tennessee Valley, including the Knoxville area, because of smoke from wildfires, officials said Monday.

People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children were advised to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion, according to the forecast on AirNow.gov.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said unhealthy air quality conditions will continue across much of the area today.

“Plumes of smoke from wildfires will continue to linger in the atmosphere across the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachian Mountains,” the National Weather Service said. “The smoke plumes will reduce visibilities and produce poor air quality conditions.” [Read more…]

More than 4,000 acres burned in Anderson County, state records say

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More than 4,000 acres have burned this month in four fires in rugged, forested parts of north Anderson County, state officials said Thursday. Smoke hangs high in the air above the mountains north of Oliver Springs on Thursday evening, Nov. 10, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 3:20 p.m. Nov. 12.

NEW RIVER—More than 4,000 acres have burned this month in five fires in mountainous north Anderson County, state officials said.

In Anderson County, 4,235 acres had been burned by the five fires as of Saturday afternoon, according to an update posted by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry. That was the most acres burned by fires that were still active in Tennessee on Saturday.

Arson is listed as the cause of four of the Anderson County fires, according to the update. Debris is the cause of another.

Smoke from at least two fires hung high above the mountains north of Oak Ridge and Oliver Springs on Thursday evening. It reduced visibility to a few hundred feet on the northernmost section of Highway 116 in rural Anderson County on Friday morning. Smoke was thick near a bridge at a 90-degree bend in the highway at the Campbell County line in northern Anderson County, irritating throats and making it harder to breathe. Firefighters said there was a nearby fire that they called Bootjack, up Stoney Fork Road, which goes north into Campbell County. [Read more…]

Arson suspected in three fires that burn close to 2,000 acres in Anderson County

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The Tennessee Division of Forestry said on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, that the 900-acre Beech Grove fire in Devonia along Highway 116 in north Anderson County was contained. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. Nov. 10.

NEW RIVER—Arson is suspected in three fires that have burned close to 2,000 acres in mountainous north Anderson County in the past week, authorities said Tuesday.

The largest fire, the Three Heads Fire in Double Camp behind Rosedale Elementary School on Highway 116, was estimated to have started on November 2. Crews had been holding it at about 1,500 acres, but someone went in behind firefighters and restarted the fire in a mountain gap about two days ago, said Bruce Miller, Tennessee Division of Forestry forestry technician in Anderson County.

Crews had to go to the north end of Anderson County to cut off the fire, which has grown to 1,600 acres, Miller said.

“It’s going to get bigger,” he said.

The fire is northeast of the Tennessee Valley Authority wind turbines on Buffalo Mountain, which are visible from Oak Ridge on a clear day. No personal property was reported to be at risk on Tuesday morning. A Tennessee Division of Forestry bulldozer was headed to the fire when Oak Ridge Today interviewed Miller in New River. [Read more…]

ORPD: Missing boy has been located

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Note: This story was updated at 7:10 p.m.

The 11-year-old boy reported missing Tuesday evening has been located, authorities said.

The boy had last been seen in the area of West Outer Drive near Whippoorwill.

The Oak Ridge Police Department sent out an alert just after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday that the juvenile has been located. [Read more…]