Chapter 8 - THE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT AND OTHER TID-BITS

CHAPTER 8

THE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT AND OTHER TID-BITS

Fifty years ago seventy-five thousand people lived inside the city of Oak Ridge. Many more would have if housing had been available. Much of the area that is developed today was rolling hills and woodland. Areas as Emory Heights and Emory Valley to the east and Country Club Estates to the west had not been developed. To be eligible to become a resident you had to be listed. There were priority lists and waiting lists. Many people high on the priority list had moved from all over the country only to forced to move into small towns nearby, some as far away as Jellico and Sweetwater. As housing became available these individuals were allowed to move into the city.

Now you can be sure that the service people, fire and police and others, were hardly near the top of the list. A majority of these types had been recruited locally. Fortunately most of them were already settled in area towns nearby. Actually some who attempted to move into the city were discouraged from doing so. A physicist from Chicago living in a second story two room apartment in LaFollette would certainly have priority over a fireman or policeman whose parents owned a farm near Lenoir City. Today this might not occur because the rights of an individual are given more consideration. Not so in the forties. So it seemed to many they were being told they were not wanted, second class citizens so to speak.

Now let us move forward approximately twenty years. Conditions are very different. A tremendous down sizing has occurred. Tennessee Eastman Corp. was released from their contract with the government and had moved out leaving hundreds of employees without employment. Carbide and Carbon was issuing lay-off slips to many more. The temporary trailers and hutments have disappeared from the scene. Weeds were now growing in the fields where these temporary units had been located. Plans were being formulated by the Atomic Energy Commission and the community leaders to release the city to the citizenry.

In 1959 the city was officially declared incorporated. Soon members of city council saw the population declining from a high mark of 75,000 plus to approximately 35,000. They saw a need to legally force all city employees to move inside the corporate limits. They argued that if your wages were earned from the city this would be where you must reside. Many of those people that had been denied the privilege of living in the city a few years earlier now were being forced to move in. After becoming an employee of the city you were allowed eighteen months to declare residency. The theory was if you lived here you would spend you money here. At the same time people who lived in the small communities near Oak Ridge were encouraged to leave their small town merchants to shop in Oak Ridge. People who had lived in the governmental housing also had first choice to purchase the properties. Once again city employees felt they were being treated as second class citizens. They searched for ways to resist this new law.

One group of firemen rented an apartment in Monticello Apartments and shared the cost of the rent and telephone. It was no secret what they had done because they had turned in identical telephone numbers. This was never challenged legally but some deputy chiefs thought it their duty to harass those individuals.

Sam (Slim) Miller purchased a duplex in the Highland View area. He rented one apartment to another party and the rental proceeds made his house payments. He moved some old furniture from his furniture and appliance store located in Lenoir City into the other apartment and had a telephone installed. He had lamps located at strategic points that were set on a timer that came on automatically when darkness prevailed. He too was harassed by his Deputy Chief but he enjoyed playing the game. Actually he practiced reverse harassment.

The local union lobbied city council members until they finally repealed this ordinance. Another battle was won in repealing second class citizenship for city employees.

After the new fire houses were occupied, the city sold the old Jackson Sq. fire house to Ron Horn and Judge Riley Anderson. All the furniture and equipment were moved into the new firehouse. The Public Works crew removed all the property owned by the city from the old building. One piece that was permanently affixed was the sliding brass pole. The firefighters slide down this pole from the dormitory to the engine room when an alarm is received. Mr. Horn was irate when he discovered the pole had been removed. He threatened to void the building purchase if the pole wasn't returned. He planned to build a new home and the pole was to be installed as a conversation piece. Shortly thereafter Mr. Horn received delivery of the brass pole.

One subject that must be included in the history of the ORFD is the versatility of the members of the department. I would challenge anyone to go anywhere in the world and randomly pick a group of fifty people that would have the varied talents of the men in the ORFD. This has been true as long as the department has existed. Some of the reasoning for this versatility is the type of people that are recruited for the fire service. To successfully score high on the type of entrance examination you must have some knowledge of a variety of subject matter. There is also the need for existence. The type of shift worked by the suppression forces of the department allows an opportunity to secure a secondary income. A vast majority of the firemen have found various means of doing so. Some have been quite ordinary and some have been very unique. Some types of businesses and vocations that many members have been involved in are: commercial artist, auto mechanic, auto sales, building construction, carpentry, custodian, chimney sweep, sales, (department store, collectibles, real estate), drapery hanging, electrician, farming (beef, strawberry, produce), freight (trucking and broker), funeral home, general building contractor (new and remodel), hospital (nursing and emergency room), landscaping, lawn care, marble polishing, masonry, photography, real estate rental, hotel owner, fire equipment sales and many others.

Some have used their off duty days to complete their education. Bill Reeves studied law. He is now a practicing attorney. Some received two and four year degrees in fire science. Ed King has a degree in nursing. He retired from the department and is employed as a nurse. Others have attended various colleges but have not as yet received their degrees.

A few have hobbies that later became profitable businesses. Coin collecting and antique furniture became quite profitable for Howard Hashbarger. He and his wife spent vacations traveling around the country hunting and purchasing antiques. They would market their treasures at flea markets around the area. Howard also bought an old hotel and managed it for a few years just prior to his retirement. Bill Henry has turned a couple of quick dollars trading and selling metal lunch boxes. He and his father own a lapel pin business selling to groups, clubs and promotional events. Marty and Andrea Zenni grow and sell native wildflowers. John and Cathy Mihalczo grow and sell native herbs and plants. A couple of the men are practicing golf every chance they get hoping to become pros. Another desires to become a professional bass fisherman.

Some of the men teach in vocational schools. Mike Collins is a state fire service instructor. Gary Day has taught photography in trade schools. Tom Hill is has been a fire training and drill instructor for a number of local volunteer fire departments.

Others have owned their own businesses. Rental property, furniture and appliances, building contractors, used car lots, plumbing and painting contractors, trucking, hotel, farms, grocery stores, just to mention a few.

During the eighties some members of the department formed a team to compete in athletic events related to firefighter job tasks. The team traveled to New Jersey to a competition that was an annual event where different fire companies from the largest volunteer fire department in the country competed. Twelve companies from the Middletown Township Volunteer Fire Dept. competed for bragging rights and trophies. The members of the ORFD and the Community Company of MTVFD became very good friends. A number of excursions from NJ to TN occurred during the next few years. Led by team captain, John Mihalczo, the Oak Ridge boys decided to organize competitions in the local area. Events were held at Norris and Cove Lake State Park in Caryville. The fourth year and a number of following years, the local competition was held in Oak Ridge as a part of the City Mayfest Celebration. Teams came from Norris, Caryville, LaFollette, Medford, Clinton and Morgan County. Rural Metro from Knox County entered a team as did the New Jersey boys a couple of years. The Oak Ridge team dominated by taking the first place trophy almost every year. They decided to extend their horizons and competed in the Knoxville Bi- Centennial Celebration and in Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA in the mid-eighties. The competition became stiffer. Some of the teams entered were from military bases in GA and FL. These guys spent lots of duty time practicing and did not plan to take home anything less than the first place trophy. One year the Oak Ridge team won first place in Atlanta. This was a great honor considering the level of competition they were facing. Some fine parties were held at the conclusion of these events. The entire community took pride in the team. Much favorable publicity was observed by the local media.

Emergency Medical Services
by: Jim Dyer

The fire service has had many changes in the services that it delivers. The major change in the last 20 years has been the delivery of Emergency Medical Services. The department first started providing rescue services with the rescue van that was a small Ford van carrying the Hurst tool, ie"jaws of life", in 1976. The Hurst tool was the first major rescue tool that the department had purchased. When the rescue van began responding to car accidents, it became apparent that medical skills were needed.

In approximately 1976- 1977, Larry Lewis and Tim Hyatt were hired and were required to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) as a condition of their employment with the city. Several firefighters became EMT s Gary Powell, Eddie Vandergriff, and Tom Hill were the first trained in this new and expanding role for fire service. The equipment was very primitive and most was donated by firefighters and the local hospital. The first jump box on rescue was a fishing tackle box and the engines carried small first aid kits some dating back to the days when the Federal government ran the department.

For many years the department only responded to car wrecks with injuries and with people pinned. In 1983, the department began hiring people who had higher levels of medical training. In 1984, the Rescue Van was replaced with a larger GMC truck with a utility box to carry more equipment. A new Hurst tool was purchased and expanded rescue skills were added. Around 1985, the first paramedic Todd Derrick, was hired by the fire department and Jim Dyer finished paramedic school in 1985 as well.

The need for the fire department to start answering more medical calls was becoming more and more obvious when the ambulance would respond across the street from Station # 3 on a heart attack at Quincy's restaurant. A modified First Responder Program was started with the fire department answering medical emergencies when the ambulance was going to take longer that six minutes to arrive on the scene. This program was very dependent on Anderson County Ambulance Service knowing where the ambulance was responding from and their dispatcher telling our dispatcher to send the fire department. The results were not as good as many expected. The Fire Chief at that time began limiting the skills that trained personnel were allowed to perform. He further ordered the paramedics to remove shoulder insignia and all EMT s were restricted to basic level skills. This continued for many years until the new Chief, Mack Bailey, was hired.

In 1991 all non-EMT and paramedic personnel were offered an in-house First Responder Program. All the people who took the state test passed on the first attempt. In January of 1992, a First Responder program was started. The program was a huge benefit to the public at large. The first year of the program, run totals doubled to two thousand runs. Many of the personnel who had been first responders continued their education and became EMT s. Some of the EMT s committed to going to paramedic school. The city got behind the program in a way few had seen in the past. The city agreed to pay for all of the tuition for EMT's and most of paramedic school. The ambulance service was even given a radio so that on scene personnel could talk to the other responding providers. The program continues and in August of 1997, the department will have 7 paramedics, 19 EMTs, and 10 first responders all certified by the State of Tennessee.

The run volume has continued to grow with 70 % of all calls being medical calls and a total run volume for 1997 approximately 3500 calls. The department's goals for 1997-98 are to upgrade the level of service to the advanced life support level. The fire department has done all of this with only a small increase to the operating budget and no increase in personnel, a huge accomplishment for the department and the personnel who perform these duties. The city has considered expanding into the transport side of the medical service. This will be the next major change to affect the fire service in Oak Ridge.

Captain Jim Dyer

Return to Index

On to Chapter 9

Photocopies of this book are available with historic pictures for $12.00 plus $2.50 s/h and tax. Go to order page here for information on obtaining your personal copy today!