Oak Ridge Today

Former Manhattan Project headquarters, Groves home damaged in fire

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Luther Brannon Oak Ridge Turnpike House Fire

The historic Luther Brannon House was damaged, but no injuries were reported in this house fire on Oak Ridge Turnpike early Monday morning. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, commander of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II, once lived here, and he had his headquarters in this single-story bungalow, which was built in 1941 and soon acquired by the federal government.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m. July 8.

A historic house that once served as a home and headquarters for Gen. Leslie R. Groves during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II was heavily damaged in a fire early Monday morning.

No injuries were reported in the house fire, which was reported at 1:36 a.m. Monday.

The one-story stone bungalow at 151 Oak Ridge Turnpike is known as the Luther Brannon House, and it’s just west of Melton Lake Drive and next to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it was the first home in Oak Ridge to be privately owned.

Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said it appears that the Monday morning fire started in the kitchen. Owner Danny Brannon and his daughter were returning from a movie when they found the home on fire. They opened the front door and found the home filled with hot, black smoke, an ORFD press release said. Brannon opened the basement door to find that area clear, but he found fire coming from the kitchen window in the back of the house. The family called 911.

“We have not been able to determine what the cause is,” Kerley said. The Fire Department is waiting for an insurance company, which is sending an investigator and claims adjuster, before continuing its investigation. [Read more…]

Woodland student pulled from water Saturday dies Monday, school official says

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The fourth-grade student pulled from the water at Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon died on Monday, a school official said.

Brayden Pearson was a student at Woodland Elementary School, said Keys Fillauer, Oak Ridge Board of Education chair. The school board observed a moment of silence for Pearson during a Monday evening meeting.

Pearson was found underwater while swimming with his family at a picnic area at the park around 4 p.m. Saturday, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. He was not conscious, Kerley said.

CPR was started, and Pearson was flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, where he had a pulse on Saturday afternoon and was moved into Intensive Care, Kerley said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Boy flown to Children’s Hospital after near-drowning at Clark Center Park

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After family members and emergency responders started CPR, a boy who had gone missing while swimming at Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon was flown by medical helicopter to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, authorities said.

On Sunday afternoon, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said he didn’t know the current condition of the boy, who might be about eight years old.

The boy had been moved to Intensive Care at Children’s Hospital, Kerley said.

“That’s all we know at the moment,” he said.

The chief said the family had been swimming about 150 feet away from the beach at a picnic area at Clark Center Park when relatives noticed the boy was gone. They started CPR when they found him and called 911. The Oak Ridge police and fire departments responded and continued CPR. Anderson County Emergency Medical Services transported the boy to the Lifestar medical helicopter, which picked up the child at a softball field at the park. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Fire Department teams with MDA this weekend

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Oak Ridge Bicycle Center

Oak Ridge Fire Department Muscular Dystrophy Chairperson Duane Chase announced Thursday that the Oak Ridge Firefighters Association will conduct its annual MDA Boot Drive this Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14, at the Secret City Festival at A.K. Bissell Park.

An MDA booth will be located at the fire department youth area and Zipline landing to make your contribution. Each contribution of $5 will enter the contributor in a drawing for a youth bicycle from Oak Ridge Bicycle Center on Jefferson Avenue. [Read more…]

ORFD recognizes 2013 firefighter, officer of year

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Jeff Hackney Firefighter of the Year

Firefighter of the Year Jeff Hackney with his father (Submitted photos)

Oak Ridge Fire Department employees have picked the outstanding firefighter and officer of 2013, Fire Chief Darryl Kerley announced this week. The awards were presented earlier this month at a reception for the employees and their families.

Firefighter of the Year

Jeff Hackney was named the 2013 Firefighter of the Year, a press release said. Hackney is a firefighter and engineer on A-shift, and he was recognized for his significant contributions to the remodeling and repairs to Fire Station No. 1 and No. 2 and his work on the training props and burn buildings at Fire Station No. 3.

Hackney also served as acting captain for several months during the past application process and is in the process of obtaining his fire officer certification.

“Congratulations to Jeff Hackney for outstanding service in 2013,” the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. [Read more…]

Woman, two children escape Easter morning grease fire

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wade-lane-fire-5

An Oak Ridge woman and her two children escaped an Easter morning grease fire at this Wade Lane home. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 p.m.

An Oak Ridge woman and her two children safely escaped an Easter morning grease fire that started in a pan on a stove while she was preparing to fry chicken in a Wade Lane home.

But their home, one of four units in a two-story building, was likely destroyed, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

Still, resident Dee Crumm said she is just glad that she and her 13-year-old son Seth and 10-year-old daughter Shelby are okay.

“As long as the kids are okay, that’s what counts,” Crumm said. [Read more…]

Spotlight: ORFD officers receive national accreditation

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Charlie Elliott

Charlie Elliott

The Center for Public Safety Excellence has notified three members of the Oak Ridge Fire Department that they have received national accreditation.

The Center for Public Safety Excellence Inc. is a nonprofit organization that, for more than a decade, has helped local public safety agencies around the world streamline and improve the services they provide their communities, a press release said. Through its individual commissions, CPSE provides a host of programs including accreditation for fire and emergency service agencies and professional designations for senior-level fire and emergency service officers.

Capt. Charlie Elliott, Capt. Brandon Payne, and Firefighter Engineer Jordan Alcorn have received notification from the Center for Public Safety Excellence that they have been approved for the designation of fire officer, or FO. [Read more…]

Lightning strike may have caused house fire on Graceland Road

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Graceland Road Fire

A lightning strike may have caused a house fire on Graceland Road on Thursday morning. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A Thursday morning fire possibly started by a lightning strike likely destroyed a home in west Oak Ridge and caused a few hundred thousand dollars in damage, authorities said.

The residents of the home at 118 Graceland Road knew their home had been hit by lightning at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. They heard the strike and found siding blown off the side of their house. They used a ladder to climb on the roof and check the home. Then, they re-checked it later before the man who lived there went to work.

But at about 7:45 a.m. Thursday, neighbor Chris Wetherall reported the roof of the house was on fire. The female resident, Yvonne McClellan, remained asleep inside, Kerley said.

Wetherall went to the burning home and banged on the door until McClellan woke up and answered the door, Kerley said. Wetherall moved a pickup truck out of the home’s garage and turned off the power. He took McClellan next door to his house, where she was evaluated by the fire department and Anderson County Emergency Medical Services. [Read more…]

K-25: Large, flat, close to ORNL, interstate—good for economic development

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Gov. Bill Haslam Visits ETTP/K-25

Sue Cange gives Gov. Bill Haslam, right, an update on the almost-completed demolition of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building. Cange is deputy manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Also pictured are Leo Sain, left, president of cleanup contractor UCOR, and Jeff Tucker, UCOR deactivation and decommissioning manager.

It was built during World War II to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs. Then, it helped win the Cold War. Now, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge presents a giant opportunity for economic development in Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam said during a tour last Friday.

“We have a real interest in what happens here,” Haslam said in a short meeting with reporters before getting a brief update on the demolition of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, which was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

The governor said the K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center, has 2,000 flat acres with infrastructure already in place, including roads and rails, and it’s three miles from Interstate 40 and seven miles from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratory.

“We don’t have that opportunity in a lot of places,” Haslam said. “Finding 2,000 flat acres in East Tennessee is virtually impossible.” [Read more…]

After recent brush fires, ORFD asks residents to be ‘firewise’

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Darryl Kerley

Darryl Kerley

The Oak Ridge Fire Department has responded to an outbreak of brush fires during the past few weeks, and on Thursday, officials asked residents to take precautions to prepare for a potential event in their area.

“Many people associate brush and wildland fires with California and ‘out West’ but that isn’t true,” ORFD Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said. “With the numerous greenbelts, natural areas, and power line clearings here in Oak Ridge, we have several areas that are prone (to) brush fires.”

Most of the recent fires have involved dried kudzu, which burns very rapidly, especially during this time of year when everything is still dry and the daytime humidity isn’t very low, a press release said. Couple the amount of kudzu, fallen pine trees, dead leaves, and undergrowth with the current weather patterns, along with the topography of most of Oak Ridge, and there is a potential for small fires to become out of control very quickly. [Read more…]

Reward offered for car, brush arsons near Linden Elementary

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Linden Elementary School Brush Fire

The Oak Ridge Fire Department has battled two brush fires near Linden Elementary School in the past 30 days. This one was March 22 behind the school. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Note: This story was last updated at 1:18 p.m.

Oak Ridge authorities are offering a reward to anyone who has information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people who started a car and brush fires at or near Linden Elementary School during the past month.

Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said three fires have been extinguished at the following addresses in the past 30 days: 

  • A woods fire at 5:15 p.m. Feb. 27  on Montclair Road near Linden Elementary School.
  • A car fire at 6:20 p.m. March 8 at Linden Elementary School. A second car had been vandalized.
  • A woods fire at 4:48 p.m. March 22 behind Linden Elementary School.

“All three of these fires are under investigation through the joint efforts of the Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department,” Kerley said in a press release. “The fires are possibly connected to the same person(s) or people, so several individuals, not yet identified, are of interest in each of these fires.” [Read more…]

Authorities investigate vehicle fire at Linden Elementary School

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Linden Elementary School Car Fire

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to a car fire at Linden Elementary School on Saturday, March, 8. (Photos by Tom Scott)

The cause of a vehicle fire at the Linden Elementary School on Saturday, March 8, hadn’t been determined as of Thursday, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 6:20 p.m. March 8.

An investigation determined that another car in the parking lot had been vandalized, and a brick was found on the roof of the car on fire as the blaze was extinguished, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said Thursday. “No cause has been determined for the fire at this time,” he said. [Read more…]