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Updated: Council approves $500,000 renovation to Fire Station 4 at ETTP

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Oak Ridge Fire Station

Oak Ridge Fire Department Station 4 is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. (File photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. May 15.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday authorized about $500,000 in renovations at Fire Station 4 at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, a federal site in west Oak Ridge.

The funds for the renovations are currently available in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget for the West End Fire Fund, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said in an April 27 memo to City Manager Mark Watson.

The total estimated cost of the renovations, based on a sealed bid process, is not to exceed $515,000, Kerley said. He said funds have been set aside for the past 11 years.

The project was unanimously approved in a 7-0 vote after a brief discussion at the City Council meeting on Monday.

The funds are part of the overall re-industrialization that will convert the ETTP fire station from a U.S. Department of Energy fire station to a municipal fire station through a DOE memorandum of agreement for the operation and maintenance of the fire station. [Read more…]

Federal funding of $28 million recommended for Y-12 fire station

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A fire engine is parked in front of the existing fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

A fire engine is parked in front of the existing fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

The Trump administration and congressional appropriations committees have agreed that $28 million in federal funding should be provided for a new fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The current fire station at Y-12 was built in the 1940s, and it is located within the most highly protected area of the nuclear weapons plant and close to the most hazardous operations, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. Y-12 is an NNSA site.

“Seismic, tornado, hazardous material release, and security events could render the fire station inaccessible,” the NNSA said in a budget request submitted to Congress for fiscal year 2018, which starts October 1. (See page 271 here.)

Emergency planning assessments show that many hazardous materials releases would “have a very short travel time” before affecting the fire station, the NNSA said. Also, it’s critical to allow off-duty personnel to access the fire station since they augment the on-duty staff, the NNSA said.

The new fire station would be a single-story building of about 35,000 square feet. It would be located on the east end of Y-12, said Steven Wyatt, spokesperson for the NNSA Production Office in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Lower fire classification in Clinton could lower home owners’ insurance premiums

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A lower community classification for Clinton and its fire department could translate, overall, into reductions in insurance premiums for home owners, a press release said.

The Insurance Services Office Inc., or ISO, notified the city and the Clinton Fire Department of the new community classification, which is 02/2X. That’s lower than the previous classification of 4, the press release said.

The new classification follows a recent analysis of the structural fire suppression delivery system for the City of Clinton. [Read more…]

Clinton gives land to SL Tennessee for expansion, will receive fire station donation

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SL Tennessee

SL Tennessee is on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park.

Note: This story was updated at 2:30 p.m. July 29.

CLINTON—The Clinton City Council voted unanimously Monday to make an exchange with SL Tennessee.

SL Tennessee was given more than 52 acres after the auto parts manufacturer announced plans to invest $80.5 million to build a 250,000-square-foot plant in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park. The building, SL Tennessee’s fifth expansion since locating in Clinton in 2001, will manufacture automobile headlights and tail lamps for General Motors.

In exchange, after construction is complete, the company will donate between $200,000 and $250,000 to the city to build a new fire station in the industrial park.

Anderson County Economic Development Association Director Tim Thompson approached the council during a special-called meeting Monday morning to propose the deal. No one from the public came forward to speak on the proposal. [Read more…]

Clinton Fire Department expansion to cut response times

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Information from WYSH Radio

Workers are building an expansion of the Clinton Fire Department’s headquarters that will create a place where three on-duty firefighters can stay during their shifts, including a sleeping area, a kitchen, a day room, and both men’s and women’s bathrooms. The expansion will also create a new office for the Fire Department.

Officials said that expanding the headquarters and creating space for on-call firefighters to remain on the premises should cut down on response times on the western side of the city.

Clinton Fire Chief Archie Brummitt said the department conducted a study of fire hall locations with the Municipal Technical Advisory Service—or MTAS—several months ago that determined that the majority of the calls answered by the department are centered in and around Clinton’s downtown area. [Read more…]

Medford Fire Department votes to display ‘In God We Trust’

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Information from WYSH Radio

The board of directors of the Medford Volunteer Fire Department on Tuesday voted unanimously to display the national motto of “In God We Trust” on its fire station on Lake City Highway.

Chief Mike Cagle recommended displaying the motto, and the decision comes on the heels of last month’s decision by the Anderson County Commission to post the phrase on the Courthouse.

[Read more…]

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