Oak Ridge Today

Updated: South Illinois re-opens after crews clean up diesel from truck crash

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South Illinois Avenue remained closed early Friday afternoon, May 26, 2017, after about 100 gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto the road following a crash involving a dump truck and two vehicles at Lafayette Drive/Scarboro Road in south Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

South Illinois Avenue remained closed early Friday afternoon, May 26, 2017, after about 100 gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto the road following a crash involving a dump truck and two vehicles at Lafayette Drive/Scarboro Road in south Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 2:40 p.m.

South Illinois Avenue re-opened Friday afternoon after being closed for about six hours to clean up about 100 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled onto the road following a crash involving a dump truck and two vehicles at Lafayette Drive/Scarboro Road in south Oak Ridge.

The fuel was spread out over about 100 yards, or roughly the length of a football field.

The Oak Ridge Public Works Department dumped sand to contain the fuel, which was spread across the five-lane roadway, and city workers and equipment, including from the Oak Ridge Fire Department, helped sweep it up with help from several vehicles, including a sweeper.

An environmental cleanup company was responding to help with the cleanup and dispose of the waste, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 7:55 a.m. Friday. The Oak Ridge Police Department, which investigated the crash, announced that the road had re-opened at 1:47 p.m. [Read more…]

Emergency workers respond to car crash, fallen trees, flooding

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Floodwaters rose close to road level at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue after heavy rains fell in Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon and evening, April 22, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge emergency workers responded to a car crash that injured two people, two fallen trees, and a possible apartment complex evacuation due to flooding during the severe thunderstorms on Saturday.

Heavy rain from the storms led to widespread flooding in Oak Ridge starting late Saturday afternoon. The water appeared to have receded in places a few hours later, or by early Saturday night.

Emergency workers made preparations Saturday evening to possibly evacuate apartments on Royce Circle, where water covered part of the roadway and rose near the first floor of an apartment complex at the northeast end of the circle. The apartments, which are next to Robertsville Road and just east of Willow Brook Elementary School, are in a low-lying area between two creeks that flow down along Jefferson Avenue and intersect with East Fork Poplar Creek, which was swollen with floodwaters on Saturday.

Authorities had made preparations to see how many people lived on the first floor of the Royce Circle apartment complex in case the residents had to be evacuated, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. Of the 10 people there, all but one had another place to go, he said. Authorities were watching the water, Kerley said.

“We think it’s receding,” he said Saturday night. [Read more…]

Pilot reported to be okay when small aircraft crashes near Oliver Springs

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Oliver Springs Plane Crash April 15 2017

The pilot of a small experimental or ultralight aircraft was reported to be okay after a crash in Anderson County near Oliver Springs on Saturday afternoon, April 15, 2017, authorities said. (Photo by Oliver Springs Fire Department)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:15 p.m. April 16.

MARLOW—The pilot of a small experimental or ultralight aircraft was reported to be okay after a crash in Anderson County near Oliver Springs on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The pilot was reported to have walked away from the crash and declined medical treatment.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said federal officials have been notified of the crash of the registered aircraft. The cause of the crash isn’t clear. [Read more…]

Juvenile driver taken to hospital after crashing into trees while airborne

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A Subaru Outback station wagon went off Delaware Avenue and appeared to have crashed into trees while airborne at a house at Dixie Lane on Thursday evening, April 13, 2017. (Photo by Mark Boatner)

A Subaru Outback went off Delaware Avenue and appeared to have crashed into trees while airborne at a house at Dixie Lane on Thursday evening, April 13, 2017. (Photo by Mark Boatner)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:15 p.m.

A Subaru Outback went off Delaware Avenue and appeared to have crashed into trees while airborne at a house at Dixie Lane on Thursday evening.

The juvenile female driver was taken to the hospital. She was already out of the car when Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi arrived, and a neighbor who heard the crash said the girl was able to walk to an ambulance stretcher.

The Oak Ridge Police Department said it appeared that the girl’s seat belt and air bag likely saved her life. The station wagon came to rest in a spot where the windshield was just a few feet away from a tree in front of the driver, which could have been dangerous if she had been ejected. There is a house on the other side of Dixie Lane, if the car had continued traveling forward. [Read more…]

Driver who died in Monday crash was Oliver Springs resident

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The driver who died in the Monday afternoon crash on State Route 95 in southwest Oak Ridge has been identified as Ralph Connor, age 78, of Oliver Springs, authorities said.

The crash remains under investigation, and no other details are being released right now, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release Tuesday.

Connor was driving a red Mercury Sable south on State Route 95 at about 1:57 p.m. Monday when he reportedly crossed the center line and hit a semi truck trailer.

Connor was taken by ambulance to Fort Loudoun Medical Center in Lenoir City, where he later died from his injuries, the City of Oak Ridge said Monday. The Sable had a disabled driver or passenger license plate, although it wasn’t clear if Connor had a medical issue before the crash.

The crash was on a hilly, curvy section of road near the entrance to the TRU Waste Processing Center north of Interstate 40. The area is south of the western entrance to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Driver dies after crash on State Route 95

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A driver died after a crash on State Route 95 near the entrance to the TRU Waste Processing Center north of Interstate 40 on Monday afternoon, April 10, 2017. One vehicle, the dark-colored Saturn Astra at right, went off the road. A second vehicle, the red Mercury Sable in the middle of the road, was reported to have crossed the center line and hit a truck trailer, pictured down the hill at left. The TRU Center is up the hill to the right. This picture is taken facing north. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A driver died after a crash on State Route 95 near the entrance to the TRU Waste Processing Center north of Interstate 40 on Monday afternoon, April 10, 2017. One vehicle, the dark-colored Saturn Astra at right, went off the road. A second vehicle, the red Mercury Sable in the middle of the road, was reported to have crossed the center line and hit a truck trailer, pictured down the hill at left. The TRU Center is up the hill to the right. This picture is taken facing north. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

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

The driver of a four-door sedan that crossed over the center line on State Route 95 and hit a semi truck trailer died from his injuries at a hospital, authorities said Monday.

The crash was reported at about 1:57 p.m. Monday in a hilly, curvy section of road near the entrance to the TRU Waste Processing Center north of Interstate 40. The area is south of the western entrance to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The driver of the red Mercury Sable sedan, which was southbound, was taken by ambulance to Fort Loudoun Medical Center in Lenoir City, where he later died from his injuries, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. The Sable had a disabled driver or passenger license plate, although it wasn’t clear if the driver had a medical issue before the crash.

A third vehicle involved in the crash, a dark-colored Saturn Astra car, went off the roadway from the northbound lane, but did not hit the Mercury Sable sedan or the semi truck, the press release said. No other injuries were reported. [Read more…]

Gilmore indicted on homicide charge in crash that killed Roane school employee

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Vickie Gay Gilmore, 62, of Oak Ridge, has been indicted on charges of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence, among other charges, in the death of Christy Duncan, a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee, in a three-vehicle crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue on Friday, May 6, 2016. Gilmore is pictured above in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Sept. 29. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Christy Duncan

Christy Duncan

Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 a.m. April 10.

An Oak Ridge woman has been indicted on charges of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence in the death of a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee in a three-vehicle crash in May.

The vehicular homicide charge alleges Vickie Gay Gilmore, 62, was driving recklessly in the crash that killed Christy Duncan, 37, of Harriman.

Gilmore has also been charged with reckless aggravated assault for injuring Duncan’s daughter Janna, who was four years old at the time of the May 6 crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue.

Gilmore has also been charged with reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle), reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident. She has an arraignment scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, April 28, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.

The indictments were filed Tuesday by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton. [Read more…]

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…]

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…]

Knoxville man facing charges after crashing car into Bull Run Creek

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Rescuers respond to a single-vehicle crash off New Henderson Road and into deep water near Bull Run Park on Wednesday evening, March 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Rescuers respond to a single-vehicle crash off New Henderson Road and into deep water near Bull Run Park on Wednesday evening, March 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLAXTON—The 38-year-old Knoxville man who crashed a car into Bull Run Creek on Wednesday night is facing charges that include driving under the influence, theft of more than $1,000, stolen license and due care violations, and a charge of no driver’s license, authorities said.

Darrell W. Bouck Jr. had minor injuries, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a preliminary crash report. It’s not known if he was using a seat belt.

The car he was driving was a 2001 Infiniti I30. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said the vehicle had been reported stolen to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

The THP report said Bouck was driving north on New Henderson Road in Claxton and “failed to maintain the lane of travel.” He and the Infiniti went off the two-lane roadway, which runs parallel to a wide river-like section of Bull Run Creek, and struck two wooden barrier posts. There are barrier posts on the shoulder of the road, which is up an embankment from the creek.

The car then rolled over and entered the water, the THP said. The crash was reported at about 7:53 p.m., according to the THP report. [Read more…]

Driver injured after car, reported as stolen, crashes into water near Bull Run Park

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The Anderson County Rescue Squad searches for a vehicle that was reported to go into the water off New Henderson Road near Bull Run Park just after 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, 2017.

The Anderson County Rescue Squad searches for a vehicle that went off New Henderson Road and into Bull Run Creek near Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday evening, March 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m. March 9.

CLAXTON—The driver of a car that had been reported stolen was injured when the vehicle plunged off New Henderson Road and into deep water near Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday evening, authorities said.

When deputies arrived, the driver was found lying on the embankment near the water, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

Rescuers received a report that two men working at a nearby home heard the crash and pulled the driver of the car from the water to safety, Lucas said.

Divers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County Rescue Squad, and Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad checked the car and surrounding area in the water, but no other occupants were found, according to Lucas and Claxton Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Dusty Sharpe and Lieutenant Mike Dabney.

Authorities said the driver was not initially alert. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Dabney said. The driver’s name, age, and condition weren’t available Wednesday night. [Read more…]

WYSH: Crash on I-75 injures four

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Information from WYSH Radio

Four people were transported to area hospitals following a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 South near the Anderson/Campbell County line on Monday night.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the crash involving a pickup and a car occurred at around 9 p.m. Monday. Two men and a five-year-old girl were in the Chevy pickup, while a female was the lone occupant of the Hyundai. The two men were flown by Lifestar to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of their injuries, while the five-year-old was taken by ambulance after she managed to escape serious injury. The driver of the car was taken by ambulance to LaFollette Medical Center.

The names and conditions of those involved have not been released. [Read more…]