Dec. 27--OAK RIDGE -- Firefighters responding to an accident Wednesday afternoon found themselves with the grim task of extricating the body of a fellow firefighter, according to reports.
Ronnie Braden of Lake City, former chief of the Medford Volunteer Fire Department in Anderson County, died while driving himself and his wife to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge about 5 p.m.
Braden was "reportedly having chest pains," Oak Ridge Fire Department Battalion Chief Marty Griffith said.
Braden's westbound Ford F-150 truck veered across the eastbound lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike at the eastern end of the city near Lake Hills Drive and went 15 feet down an embankment before hitting a tree on the driver's side.
The accident scene was in dense brush, Griffith said, and the steep, wet terrain also hampered rescue and retrieval efforts.
Oak Ridge firefighters used a rope system to haul Braden's wife from the wreck, Griffith said. Emergency response crews spent more than an hour extricating Braden's body.
Eastbound traffic was blocked for some two hours and rerouted onto Melton Lake Drive.
Griffith said it appeared trauma sustained in the wreck could have caused Braden's death.
His son, Anthony Braden, is a Clinton firefighter.
Details of the wreck were unavailable late Thursday morning from the Oak Ridge Police Department.
More details as they develop online and in Friday's News Sentinel.
Copyright 2012 - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
