Oak Ridge Today

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…]

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…]

Jeep pulling ATV knocks down railroad signal in Oliver Springs

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Tri-County Boulevard and ATV Railroad Crossing Crash

A Jeep pulling an ATV on Tri-County Boulevard on Monday evening went off the road and knocked down a railroad signal. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Information from photographer Tom Scott

A Jeep pulling a trailer hauling an ATV eastbound on Tri-County Boulevard on Monday went off the road near Edmonds Drive and knocked down a railroad crossing signal.

The ATV flipped and landed next to the vehicle after the crash, which occurred at about 5:50 p.m. Monday.

No injuries were reported. The Oliver Springs police and fire departments responded as did the Anderson County Emergency Medical Services. [Read more…]

Frozen sprinkler pipes burst, flood buildings across Oak Ridge

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Oak Ridge Fire Department at Heritage Fellowship

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responds to a report of a frozen sprinkler system that burst at Heritage Fellowship on Tuesday afternoon.

Frozen sprinkler pipes burst and flooded buildings across Oak Ridge on Tuesday as a frigid arctic air mass lingered over parts of the central and eastern United States.

Oak Ridge firefighters said it’s likely there will be more calls on Wednesday as temperatures rise and frozen pipes thaw.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley provided a list of buildings where frozen sprinkler systems had burst. They included St. Mary’s School, the back side of the Staples building, a building at the Pine Ridge office complex, Centennial Village Apartments, a U.S. Department of Energy building on Laboratory Road, UBS Financial on East Tennessee Avenue, Weatherford Mortuary, Courtyards at Briarcliff, and Heritage Fellowship on North Illinois Avenue. [Read more…]

Driver cut from vehicle, taken to UT after crashing into power pole

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Old Edgemoor Road Power Pole

The Oak Ridge Electric Department installs a new utility pole after a driver crashed into the old one and broke it on Old Edgemoor Road on Thursday morning.

A driver had to be cut from his upside-down SUV and taken to the hospital on Thursday morning after he crashed into a guide wire on a utility pole on Old Edgemoor Road, traveled up the wire, and then hit the pole and broke it, authorities said.

The Mercury Mountaineer likely went about 10 feet in the air and then fell on its top, crushing the roof, said Marty Griffith, Oak Ridge Fire Department battalion chief. Electrical lines landed on top of the vehicle, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department was called to turn off the power.

Griffith said the driver was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a head laceration. He did not have any other obvious injuries. Griffith said the man might have had a medical emergency before the crash. [Read more…]

Report: Woman who fell into fountain and died had been ‘huffing,’ witness says

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Oak Ridge Civic Center Fountain

The Oak Ridge woman who fell into this fountain at the Civic Center on June 3 and died in a hospital 13 days later had been spotted “huffing” a can of keyboard cleaner next to a tree in the park, possibly just minutes before she was found floating face down in the water, authorities said.

The 26-year-old woman who fell into a fountain at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on June 3 and died in a hospital 13 days later had been spotted “huffing” a can of keyboard cleaner next to a tree in the park, possibly just minutes before she was found floating face down in the water, authorities said.

After she was pulled from the fountain, rescuers tried CPR on Sarah Christine McAdams, but she was unresponsive and given only a 10 percent chance of surviving the first night at Methodist Medical Center, hospital staff told Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Kevin Craig.

On June 6, ORPD Detective David Stephens reported that McAdams, who had lived on Manhattan Avenue in Woodland, had been placed in an induced coma and had not been able to communicate. She died at the hospital on June 16, according to a copy of the death certificate provided by her mother, Lori Holt, of Murrell’s Inlet, S.C. [Read more…]

Christmas Day heist: Thieves try to steal ATM safe with Bobcat

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Bobcat and ATM Safe from Y-12 Federal Credit Union

A Bobcat that appears to have been involved in a Christmas morning plot to steal money from an ATM in east Oak Ridge is tipped over on its side in a small ditch next to the safe, which had apparently not been opened.

A brazen attempt to steal money from an ATM in east Oak Ridge appears to have gone awry early Christmas morning and ended with a Bobcat tipped over on its side next to a safe that had apparently not been opened.

Many of the details are preliminary, and the Oak Ridge Police Department was investigating Wednesday morning.

The attempted theft caused extensive damage to a Y-12 Federal Credit Union automated teller machine at a small shopping center that includes the KARM Thrift Store and Tractor Supply Co. Crumpled ATM debris was scattered in a grassy field behind the drive-through credit union machine, and brown tracks led a few hundred feet away to the tipped-over Bobcat and the square safe, which appeared to have a chain wrapped around it. [Read more…]

Four students found with drugs, hatchet, ski mask, ORPD says

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.

A 14-year-old male who refused to go to school on Wednesday possessed a tactical load bearing vest, and four students detained Thursday, including one adult student, were found near Oak Ridge High School in a car that contained drugs, a ski mask, and a hatchet, authorities said.

The news comes less than one day after the Oak Ridge Police Department announced it seized a stolen, loaded gun from the car of a student who had allegedly caused a disturbance at Oak Ridge High School and said a knife had been seized from a student during an altercation on a school bus.

In a Thursday morning press release, the ORPD said officers responded to a report of an unruly juvenile at a home on Baypath Drive at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“When officers arrived, they met with the mother and older sibling of a 14 year-old juvenile male who had refused to go to school,” the press release said. “Officers interviewed the juvenile and noted he was in possession of a tactical load bearing vest. Officers ultimately assisted in transporting the juvenile to the Methodist Medical Center emergency room for an evaluation, as well as coordinating with Juvenile Court authorities and referring the incident to DCS for follow-up. No criminal charges were filed. However, the investigation remains ongoing, and no further details will be released at this time.” [Read more…]

Family identifies woman who died after falling into Civic Center fountain

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Oak Ridge Civic Center Fountain

Family members have identified an Oak Ridge woman who fell into the fountain at the Civic Center in June and died in the hospital 13 days later.

Family members have identified an Oak Ridge woman who fell into the fountain at the Civic Center in June and died in the hospital 13 days later.

Sarah Christine McAdams, 26, was found floating face down in the murky brown water, which is about 14” inches deep, on June 3. Two people reported the incident to the Civic Center staff, while a third tried to pull McAdams out of the water, city officials said.

Rescuers tried to resuscitate her immediately, and McAdams, who lived on Manhattan Avenue in the Woodland neighborhood, was rushed to Methodist Medical Center, city officials said at the time, without identifying the woman.

She died June 16, according to records provided by her mother, Lori Holt, of Murrell’s Inlet, S.C., which is south of Myrtle Beach. [Read more…]

No injuries, but barn fire causes estimated $100,000 in damage

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Tuskegee Drive Barn Fire

A Thursday evening fire destroyed a barn off Tuskegee Drive and caused an estimated $100,000 in damage, including to supplies and equipment inside. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A fire that destroyed a barn off Tuskegee Drive on Thursday evening caused an estimated $100,000 in damage, authorities said Friday morning.

The blaze was first reported as a fire in the woods at about 5:09 p.m. Thursday. But crews who hiked through the woods found a barn totally engulfed with fire, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

Access to the structure near the intersection of Tuskegee and TeeJay drives was limited, so the Oak Ridge Fire Department requested forestry mini pumpers from Oliver Springs and Marlow volunteer fire departments to help control wooded areas around the barn. [Read more…]

Most apartment residents displaced by Thanksgiving fire calls can return home

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Utica Circle Fire

An apartment fire at 312 Utica Circle that was allegedly set deliberately heavily damaged one home, and other residents in the eight-unit building were displaced during the Thanksgiving weekend. (Photos by Tom Scott)

ORFD chief says Utica Circle fire was set

Power has been restored to an Applewood Apartments building on Hillside Road after a Thanksgiving Day electrical short displaced two dozen residents, and most of another two dozen residents can move back into McKenzie Acres apartments on Utica Circle, two days after they were displaced by a Saturday night fire, city officials said Monday.

The two fire calls in three days displaced about 50 people during the Thanksgiving weekend. The Red Cross has helped the residents with food and shelter, and residents and restaurants have pitched in as well.

The city hoped to get the residents back into their buildings today, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said Monday afternoon. [Read more…]

Second apartment fire this week displaces another two dozen residents

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Utica Circle Fire

An apartment fire at 312 Utica Circle heavily damaged one home, and other residents in the eight-unit building will not be able to stay at home Saturday night. (Photos by Tom Scott)

The second apartment fire in Oak Ridge since Thursday has displaced another two dozen residents.

The Saturday night fire started at about 9:22 p.m. in the 300 block of Utica Circle at McKenzie Acres. Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the second-story blaze, and no one was injured.

But roughly 25 residents, including children, will not be able to return home to the eight-unit building tonight, authorities said. The Red Cross was on its way to Utica Circle to help the residents, who huddled outside in pajamas, coats, gloves, and hats as temperatures dropped to freezing at about 11 p.m. Saturday. [Read more…]