Darryl Kerley
Josh Waldo
The Center for Public Safety Excellence has notified four officers of the Oak Ridge Fire Department that they have received national accreditation, a press release said.
ORFD Fire Chief Darryl Kerley and Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo have been notified that they have been approved for the designation of chief fire officer, the release said. Battalion chiefs Marty Griffith and Joseph Durham have been approved for the designation of fire officer. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge firefighters investigate a report of smoke at Oak Ridge Utility District on Thursday morning. They found a hot ceiling tile and determined a light ballast had apparently failed, causing a fixture to overheat and igniting insulation paper. (Submitted photos)
The Oak Ridge Fire Department called it a “near miss.”
Firefighters responded at about 6:40 a.m. Thursday to a report of smoke at the Oak Ridge Utility District office building on South Jefferson Circle. The source of the smoke was initially believed to be a motor on a heat and air unit that had failed, but fire crews using a thermal imaging camera located a hot ceiling tile in an office, an ORFD press release said.
“It appears that a light ballast had failed, causing the fixture to overheat, which ignited the paper backing on the insulation lying directly on top of the recessed light,” the release said. “The paper burned along the insulation for approximately five feet until the insulation came into contact with a sprinkler pipe, where it self-extinguished. There was no damage, smoke or water, to the building, and the burned insulation was removed by the firefighters.” [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Fire Department responds to a trash fire apparently started by charcoal ashes on Golfcrest Lane on Wednesday. Pictured above are Oak Ridge Fire Department Capt. Kerry Osborne on top of ladder, and firefighters Joe Brackins, left, and Seth Burnett.
(Photo by Tom Scott)
Charcoal ashes discarded in a trash bag on a deck apparently started a Wednesday afternoon fire on Golfcrest Lane, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said Thursday.
Firefighters responded to a report of smoke at 119 Golfcrest Lane at 12:49 p.m. Wednesday. A neighbor threw water on the flames before the Fire Department arrived and the small fire was out, an ORFD press release said.
The only damage to the home was a small hole in two boards in the deck. [Read more…]
A tree fell on a vacant Delaware Avenue home during a severe Monday night storm. (Photo by Brad Jones)
A strong storm that blew through Oak Ridge on Monday knocked two trees down onto homes. One fell onto a firefighter’s house and caused several thousand dollars worth of damage, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.
Firefighters also responded to a call from a woman who called 911 and said she thought she had been struck by lightning during the 7 p.m. storm.
“Upon arrival, the fire department found her in the living room of her home complaining of chest pain,” Kerley said. “She stated she was standing looking out the window when lighting hit in front of her, and she began experiencing chest pain. She was transported to Methodist Medical Center for evaluation.” [Read more…]
During a severe thunderstorm on Monday evening, the Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to a call of a woman who had possibly been struck by lightning.
The woman reported she was standing by a window at a Vanderbilt Drive home at about 7:19 p.m. Monday when she saw a bright flash of light and then had a funny feeling in her chest, ORFD Chief Darryl Kerley said Tuesday. [Read more…]
The University of Tennessee Medical Center could not provide information on the condition of an eight-year-old boy hit by a car on Wednesday afternoon in Oak Ridge—or even confirm whether the child was at the hospital.
An Oak Ridge Police Department report said the boy was hit by a 1998 Toyota Camry in the parking lot of British Woods Apartments at about 4:35 p.m. Wednesday. The four-door sedan was driven by Zhenfeng Han, 33, who lives at the apartment complex on Briarcliff Avenue. [Read more…]
A 10-year-old boy was reportedly hit by a car and flipped onto the hood before falling onto the ground next to a tire at British Woods Apartments on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The boy was lying face up in the apartment complex driveway when the Oak Ridge Fire Department arrived at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a report said. He had abrasions on his neck but no other obvious injuries.
The boy could not remember what happened, the ORFD report said. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.
A female believed to be in her 30s was taken to Methodist Medical Center on Monday afternoon after she was found floating face down in the fountain at the Oak Ridge Civic Center, city officials said.
The woman, who was not identified in a Tuesday statement, is currently receiving treatment at the hospital. She is believed to be in her mid-to-late 30s.
She was found in the 14-inch deep fountain at about 2:45 p.m. Monday by residents visiting the Civic Center, the statement said. Two people reported the incident to the staff at the Civic Center front counter, while a third tried to pull the woman out of the water, said Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs, who is acting city manager while Mark Watson attends an out-of-town meeting. [Read more…]
No students were reported to be injured after a Monday afternoon collision between a school bus and a car in Woodland.
No children appeared to be injured after a Monday afternoon collision between a school bus and car at the intersection of Northwestern and West Gettysburg avenues in the Woodland neighborhood, authorities said.
However, a bus assistant may have hurt her shoulder, and she went to the hospital to be checked out, Oak Ridge Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge said.
The yellow school bus, Bus #596, which is operated by contractor First Student, was carrying about 18 children from Oak Ridge Preschool at about 2:16 p.m. Monday when it collided with a red Volvo four-door sedan. The students were headed home after school. None were taken away from the crash by ambulance, Oak Ridge Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said. [Read more…]
Workers from a commercial cleanup company place a leaking nitric acid package in a secure container along Administration Road on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Tom Scott)
The cardboard container contained one liter of nitric acid, and the delivery had been refused at the Y-12 National Security Complex because the bottom of the package was wet, the FedEx driver told Oak Ridge firefighters.
The delivery driver checked the 11-pound package at his next stop, and he found fluid leaking out of it and immediately called 911, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said in a Tuesday afternoon statement. [Read more…]
The Broadway Apartments on East Madison Road were evacuated Friday morning after a pickup truck rolled down a small hill and ruptured a two-inch gas line. (Photo by Tom Scott)
Emergency workers started evacuating about 100 people at an apartment complex and day care center on Friday morning after a pickup truck ruptured a two-inch natural gas line in central Oak Ridge.
The apparently unoccupied pickup truck, which might have popped out of gear, rolled down a small hill at Broadway Apartments on East Madison Road and into a gas meter, which was attached to the gas line, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.
“It made a pretty significant leak,” he said. [Read more…]
An Oak Ridge man used a water bottle and clothing to put out a fire that started after he fell asleep while cooking chicken fat on his stove early Monday morning, authorities said.
Walter H. Starnes said there was smoke in the home on North Alabama Road when he woke up, and he used a water bottle to extinguish a cabinet fire and clothing to smother a fire in a pot on a stove, according to a report by Oak Ridge Fire Department Battalion Chief Marty Griffith. [Read more…]
