Oak Ridge Today

Report: Child playing with lighter under bed when fire found

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East Tennessee Avenue Mattress Fire

A child admitted playing with a lighter under a bed when a mattress fire was found in an East Tennessee Avenue home Monday night, authorities said. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A child admitted playing with a lighter under a bed in a home on East Tennessee Avenue when a mattress fire was found at about 7:04 p.m. Monday, an Oak Ridge Fire Department report said.

Firefighters reported light smoke inside the house when they arrived, and they quickly found a smoldering mattress fire in a bedroom inside, the report said.

They reported the fire was under control, ventilated the home, and removed the mattress and box frame.

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No one injured, home destroyed in suspicious Sunday morning fire

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Hillside Road House Fire

No one was injured in a suspicious Sunday morning fire that destroyed a home on Hillside Road, authorities said. (Photos by Tom Scott)

No one was injured, but a home was destroyed in a suspicious Sunday morning fire on Hillside Road, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.

“It’s under investigation, but it appears to be suspicious in nature,” Kerley said.

The renters at the home were moving to Knoxville, and most of their belongings had been removed, Kerley said. The home had no power or utilities, and no one was home at the time of the fire.

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No injuries, exposures in Oliver Springs sulfur dioxide leak

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Oliver Springs Sulfur Dioxide Leak

Howie Rose, director of the Roane County Office of Emergency Services, pictured at right front, briefs firefighters responding to a sulfur dioxide leak at the Oliver Springs Waste Water Treatment Plant on Joel Road on Wednesday morning. (Photos by Tom Scott)

No one was injured or exposed to sulfur dioxide in a leak at the Oliver Springs wastewater treatment plant on Wednesday, but a small group of nearby residents were asked to stay in their homes as a precaution, City Manager Tina Treece said.

The small leak from a system connected to a 150-pound cylinder of sulfur dioxide was discovered by workers who heard an alarm when they arrived at the plant on Joel Road at about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Treece said there was no odor in the air and it turned out that the leak posed no danger, but officials wanted to make sure conditions were safe for residents and workers.

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Firefighters, animal control officers rescue horse stuck in trailer

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Oak Ridge Animal Control Officers Rescue Horse

Oak Ridge firefighters and police and animal control officers rescue a horse stuck in a trailer near Oak Ridge Turnpike and Louisiana Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. Pictured above helping the horse out of the trailer is Oak Ridge Animal Control Officer Randy Proffitt.

Oak Ridge firefighters and animal control officers rescued a horse stuck in a trailer with its hoof above its head near Oak Ridge Turnpike and Louisiana Avenue on Wednesday afternoon.

The horse was being hauled from Anderson County to Second Chance Youth Ranch in Sweetwater when it apparently put at least one hoof up on a hay loft inside the trailer and then broke through the loft, getting stuck, with its hoof stuck in the hole.

Mary Braswell was driving near the trailer at about 2:24 p.m. Wednesday. At first, she and her passenger Megan Baker thought the horse, which was moving around, was a colt because it looked small.

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Smoking apparently caused fatal fire Monday

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Decatur Road House Fire

Smoking appears to have caused the fatal house fire that killed one person and a dog on Decatur Road on Monday afternoon, authorities said. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Smoking appears to have caused the Monday afternoon fire that killed one person and a dog, fire officials said Tuesday.

“We’re not positive yet, but (the cause of the fire) could be smoking in the living room,” Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.

Kerley said the victim’s body was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for an autopsy and identification. The victim appeared to be a man, he said.

Oak Ridge Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said Tuesday afternoon that the victim died in the fire.

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One person dies in Decatur Road house fire

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Decatur Road House Fire

One person died in a Monday afternoon fire at a home at the corner of Decatur Road and Delaware Avenue. (Photo by Tom Scott)

One person died in a Monday afternoon house fire on Decatur Road, Oak Ridge Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said.

Authorities aren’t releasing the name or age of the person, pending notification of relatives. Authorities also wouldn’t say where the person was in the house during the fire.

The Oak Ridge police and fire departments are investigating the cause of the fire, which was concentrated around the home’s back porch and living room and sent thick gray and black smoke billowing skyward.

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Fire flares on Decatur Road back porch

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Decatur Road Fire

Oak Ridge firefighters quickly extinguished a fire at a Decatur Road home on Monday afternoon.

Oak Ridge firefighters quickly extinguished a fire that briefly raged at a Decatur Road home on Monday afternoon, including on the back porch.

Neighbors reported smoke at the home at about 2:45 p.m. Monday.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department appeared to bring the fire under control within a few minutes and later entered the home, which is at the intersection with Delaware Avenue. Firefighters remained on the scene more than 90 minutes afterward.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Two industry fires reported in Clinton

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ORFD Tower Truck

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded with a tower truck and personnel to a Thursday evening fire at Rexnord Link Belt Plant on J.D. Yarnell Industrial Parkway in Clinton. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Two fires were reported Thursday night and early Friday morning at businesses in Clinton.

The first fire broke out Thursday night at Rexnord, and the second one occurred early Friday at Eagle Bend Manufacturing, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton. In both fires, no injuries were reported, and they are not believed to be suspicious in nature.

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Vehicle rolls, injuries reported in Oak Ridge Turnpike crash

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Oak Ridge Turnpike Crash

Four people were injured, three ejected or partially ejected, and two extricated after a two-vehicle collision on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Sunday afternoon. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Four people were injured, three were ejected or partially ejected, and firefighters had to extricate two after two vehicles collided on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Sunday afternoon.

The crash occurred east of Laboratory Road near the entrance to Home Depot at about 3:08 p.m. Sunday.

An Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said the two drivers and two passengers—Charles E. Brooks, 83; Derick S. Coapman, 22; Faith M. Goncalves, 22; and Daniel W. Coapman, 27—were reported in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville at the time of the report.

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Fire starts with cooking oil, ends with baking flour

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A fire that started in a pan of hot oil in a West Outer Drive home Thursday and spread to an artificial plant on top of kitchen cabinets ended when a neighbor dumped baking flour on the plant, extinguishing the flames, a fire report said.

A West Outer Drive man told firefighters he had been heating oil to cook frozen chicken nuggets earlier in the day and left the oil unattended, an Oak Ridge Fire Department report said. When the man returned to the stove, the oil was on fire.

The man picked up the pot and headed for the front door but decided the fire in the pan was too large, the report said. So, he placed the pan in the sink and turned on the water.

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Former Medford fire chief dies in single-vehicle accident in Oak Ridge Turnpike

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Oak Ridge Turnpike Fatal Accident

A Lake City man died Wednesday evening during a single-vehicle accident on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Elza Drive. Braden’s pickup truck went down an embankment and hit a tree, but his passenger survived. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A Lake City man who was also a former volunteer fire chief in Medford died during a single-vehicle accident on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Elza Drive at about 4:46 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Ronnie L. Braden, 62, was driving a black 2001 Ford pickup that went 15 feet down an embankment and into a tree, according to an Oak Ridge Fire Department report.

Rescuers said Braden had been complaining of chest pains before the accident.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, the Oak Ridge Police Department said Braden was declared dead at the scene by Anderson County Emergency Medical Services.

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Eight-point buck, three-car collision, two injuries on Christmas Eve

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Toyota Scion at Oak Ridge Turnpike at Wiltshire Drive

Three cars collided on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Christmas Eve, injuring two people, after two vehicles stopped for an injured deer in the eastbound lanes. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Two people were injured in a three-car collision on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Christmas Eve after two vehicles stopped in the eastbound lanes for a deer in the roadway and a third vehicle hit the first two.

The 6:55 p.m. accident occurred just east of Wiltshire Drive. A 2007 Lexus car driven by Paula Arlene Flowers, 44, of Oak Ridge, and a 1993 Nissan pickup driven by Bryan Keith Roberts, 42, of Clinton, had stopped for an eight-point buck that had reportedly been hit in the westbound lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike and staggered across to the eastbound lanes.

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