March 30, 2007
The BIG one
Monday I was ill and looked forward to a full night’s sleep before production day Tuesday. I nearly turned off my scanner to make sure I’d sleep, but the last time I did that, I missed the biggest fire in 75 years.
It was one county over, not in my coverage area -- though in my sister newspaper’s area -- but I couldn’t believe I’d missed it.
About 2 a.m. this Tuesday morning, I woke to hear a fire chief on the scanner ask for the public works department to boost water pressure. He then directed crews to do “like we did last time.” Immediately, I could hear units responding from all over the region. Some came from as far away two counties over, driving as far 25 miles.
Even considering my sickness and looming production day, I wasn’t going to miss the second giant fire.
Without ever hearing an address, I knew where to go.
A friend was staying with us, so I roused him from his slumber and he came along with me as I drove over a mountain, making 25 miles in just about 30 minutes.
We parked as close as possible and prudent and walked to the scene where I started making photos. It was nearly an hour after the initial dispatch, but we could still see a lot of flame, considering the elapsed time and thousands of gallons of water that firefighters were streaming onto the blaze each minute.
I quickly started seeing firefighter buddies, who were surprised to see me back in the old stomping grounds.
The sheer destruction was impressive. Rarely, if ever, have I personally seen fire do so much. And all this was almost literally a stone’s throw from the volunteer fire station.
News reports said that something like 100 people using 15 fire trucks fought the blaze. That included two ladder trucks, which poured water from above. Others pumped water nearly 1/4-mile from the river because the town's old water system couldn't provide the volume of water necessary to stop the blaze. Before that long hose lay was finished, tankers ferried water to the scene.
Crews did hold the fire from spanning a narrow alley to a brick building on the same block.
Dozens of spectators turned out to watch, and it was funny to walk along and hear kids and firefighters call my name with surprise. My fame from my days as the old sports guy still exists.
I got a little sleep back at home before heading to the office to put out a newspaper. Throughout the day, my sickness left me. (I then responded to another fire about the same time the next night, although this time it was in my newspaper's coverage area.)
Part of the reason I decided to go to the big fire Tuesday morning was the fact that none of the area newspapers was at the first big fire. I tried without luck to reach an editor for this fire. Our sister daily had a photographer there Tuesday morning, but the sister weeklies that cover that town did not have a presence other than me.
When I got to work, I e-mailed a selection of photos to the weeklies and called the reporter who covers the town. He went out and did a very good job, putting together a package of stories. And the two weeklies used a variety of the photos I sent, along with some submitted by firefighters and some taken after the sun rose.
Additional reading
PNC The old newspaper had the best coverage. (Link will disappear next week.)
Firehouse Photostory Submission by member of first-due FD.
Elkton FD Photos from second-due FD.
McGaheysville FD Photos from another mutual aid FD
Grottoes FD Photos from another mutual aid FD
VPA results
Last weekend, our state press assocation held its annual editorial awards banquet in Norfolk. It's always a fun weekend getaway, with the chance to see the top print journalism in a state that includes the Washington Post and the Virginian Pilot.
This year was even more exciting, as my staff and I combined to win 16 individual awards. Of those, eight were first place, four were second place, and four were third place. Those awards earned points toward one of the biggest awards of the night -- the sweepstakes award. For the first time since 1988, our newspaper won the sweepstakes award at last weekend's banquet.
Winning that is a big deal, and our sister newspaper won the sweepstakes in its category, making an even bigger statement in the commonwealth.
Allow me to explain a little more of the award's importance.
During the banquet, thousands of individual awards are given out. Diners babble on, paying little attention to the goings-on, except when they are getting awards or when sister publications are getting their awards. But when it comes time for the sweepstakes awards, the hundreds of attendees get quiet, and everyone waits to hear the seven sweepstakes winners.
Specialty (magazines, monthlies) publications compete for one sweepstakes award. There are two sweepstakes for daily newspapers, based on circulation, and four for weeklies, also based on circulation.
First-place awards earn three points; second, two; third, one. We totaled 36 points, with half of our awards being first-place awards. By my count, our closest competition had 31 points. Our category, weeklies with a circulation less than 5,000, has 44 newspapers in it.
To be eligible for the sweepstakes award, the newspaper must earn points in writing categories, photography categories, and presentation categories. There's also a category for new media awards, but it's not required for sweepstakes.
Before we were named the winner, the emcee announced that we had the highest points totals in two of the three required categories -- writing and presentation.
Our redesign helped propel the latter category.
Personally, I won three awards, and I shared one with my staff. They are listed below, along with the judges' comments.
First place -- government writing
A man after my own heart - I loved scooping a seven-day daily - you will go places. Very readable, insightful, just all around good stories. I read them all and didn't want them to end. Very good work!First place -- spot news writing
Local daily and TV brief brought to life. Good interviewing skills and obviously a lot of reader interest. The cream in a very tough category.First place -- Headline writing
You can't compete with "Rubber Ducks Stuck."First place (with staff) -- General makeup
Redesigned issues won this for you. Great decisions. Well organized, "Inside this Week" feature on front is great addition. Opinion page is well designed.
"General makeup" has nothing to do with our use of cosmetic powders. The category involves everything that goes into the newspaper -- usability, interest, appearance, etc.
It requires participants to submit four entire newspapers -- two from specific dates and two of the submitting paper's choice. The two required dates were before our redesign. We chose two post-redesign issues for the other two, and I included an explanation of the redesign in my comments to the judges.
Not every award included judges' comments, but the rest of the judges' comments for our winners are listed below.
Solid, conversational writing - drew the reader into the story. The "fire" story was descriptive and tugged at the reader's heart strings a bit.Three very well-written stories, featuring a focal point and plenty of relevant and artfully detailed color. "Virginia" does what good features do best: Paint a picture while telling a story.
This paper had the best overall coverage with several sports featured on section fronts. Clear, large photos enhanced overall appearance of section. Perhaps less focus on NASCAR, as it is a local paper.
Great series developed from meeting coverage. Covers all aspects of the elusive coyote from trouble for farmers to unique ways to guard against problems.
Exceptional lead, well-written and concise article.
Solid story with interesting details. The piece contains a lot of information but doesn't get boring.
The addition of local jobs is important but the competition between American and Chinese apples is probably equally important. The article is well-written and informative, but may have been better-suited as two articles - one about gatorade and one about apples.
A peek inside some families who have home schooling was interesting to most readers who aren't familiar with this new trend. The only thing missing was the impact on public school systems -- but then, maybe that's another series.
March 27, 2007
The Lost Posts, No. 4: Stretch!
These photos were from Christmas Day. Gabe was just on the verge of crawling, and I have to wonder if this helped convince him he needed to do so.
Almost got it!
I'll get it one way or another!
March 22, 2007
The Lost (Fire) Posts, No. 3: Workshop fire
I was working late one Monday night, getting ready for production day the next day, when nearby companies were toned for a barn fire.
My response was quick, and I was on the scene shortly after the fire departments. The key was that I was there before they got water on the fire, because once they did that, there wasn't much to get photos of.
This one was a cold one, just over 20 degrees. I talked to officials and the owner of the building, which was an old summer kitchen that now served as the woodworking shop that was the man's livelihood. When I got back to the office, I had enough for a quick story.
If I had been home when this call was given, I would have been more than 30 minutes away, and would have had little to show in my photos.
March 21, 2007
The Lost Posts, No. 3: More loot
More photos from back at Gabe's first Christmas. Fun stuff to look back on, especially as we deal with a nasty bug in the here-and-now.
March 20, 2007
The Lost (Fire) Posts, No. 2: Christmas Day
Minutes before Darla was to serve Christmas Dinner for Gabe, GramR, Mommy, and Daddy, tones sounded for a house fire. The initial dispatch sounded like it was not far away, and I didn't stop to look up the house number in my county map book.
Turned out, it was on a road that winds all over, and it was a good 10-15 minutes away.
More photos and story after the jump.
As I drove in the misty late afternoon, I pulled over to let a volunteer responding in his private vehicle get past. Eventually we neared an intersection where a responding fire engine rolled by.
The three of us continued toward the scene as responders struggled to actually determine where the call was. That's often a sign that the call is not too sincere, so I was not happy, considering what I'd left at home. Shortly one responder said he could see the fire and was trying to figure out how to reach the house.
About that time we came around a bend and could see the burning house. A man was waiting at a nearby driveway to show the fire trucks the way in, and I could tell that I didn't want to commit to the driveway. I parked off the main road, ignoring a volunteer who said I could drive down, since it was going to be a hike down and back.
When I finally reached the scene, there was only one fire engine there. Others were on the way. A crew was inside trying to knock down the fire on the second floor. As more crews arrived, there was some concern because the chief outside couldn't reach the interior firefighters. I feared I was going to have more to report than I wanted.
After a few minutes, though, the interior crew was fine, and the fire was knocked down.
This photo shows a firefighter on the porch roof. He's opening up the wall, more to provide an escape route for the interior firefighters than to get to the flames.
The fire chief blamed the fire on the stove pipe in the attic. The house was probably a total loss, but many of the residents' belongings were salvaged.
As darkness fell, I slogged through the muddy driveway back to my car. Turns out I'd made the right decision to park on the road. The long driveway was very tight, so I would have clogged up the scene's access. That, and the fire department's needed a heavy-duty wrecker to tow them out of the mud when the fire was over.
March 16, 2007
March 15, 2007
The Lost (Fire) Posts, No. 1: November barn blaze
This barn fire last November was a only few miles from home, in the wee hours of a Wednesday morning. I'd put the paper to bed and come home late Tuesday night. Darla and I talked and caught up and hit the sack. I was having trouble sleeping, and nearby fire crews were out on a few non-exciting calls.
When they toned this, it was one of those calls where I knew immediately that it was real. Almost immediately, as I got ready, responders confirmed it was a working fire and requested additional resources. It was cold and rainy, so dressed accordingly.
On my drive to the scene, I pulled over and let an engine pass, and the glow in the sky drew us in like moths. The barn was down a narrow lane and I parked across a slight ditch, leaving room for fire rigs to get by.
When I arrived, the frame of the barn was still standing, but it quickly collapsed due to the heavy fire. That's when I snapped this over-exposed photo of a policeman running to escape the tremendous heat generated by the collapse.
The barn, which had survived Sheridan's burning of the Valley in the Civil War, was of course a total loss. The farmer lost thousands of dollars of hay, along with some livestock. No cause has been given, as yet.
The top photo was later in the incident, and you can see how soaked the firefighters gear is. You can also see, if you look closely, the streaks of pouring rain falling rather sideways. When I wasn't actively shooting photos and when firefighters weren't actively keeping the blaze from spreading to the several buildings nearby, we took shelter beside the fire engines on the downwind side.
Even though I wore a raincoat, I was soaked to the skin, and when I left the warmth of the fireside to walk about a quarter-mile back to the car, I got really, really chilly. Then to leave, I had to back down the lane in the cold darkness.
I got home and started to peel my wet clothes off and make some hot chocolate when many of the same fire companies were toned for another structure fire, this time in an occupied apartment building in another town. I put on dry clothes and responded, enjoying the company of many of the same officials at this call, which ended up being very minor. It could have turned serious if it hadn't been reported so soon.
By that time, the night was nearly over, so I stopped and picked up breakfast for Darla and myself. She was up feeding Gabe when I got home. When she finished, we ate together, then I cuddled with Gabe as she got ready for work.
Finally, I slept.
March 14, 2007
The Lost Posts, No. 1: Collins men
These photos were from Christmas, when three generations of Collins men gathered to try out their new shirts, which Grandpa bought at the Denver fire museum -- a place that Grandma, Uncle Michael and Daddy visited years and years ago.
And, yes, Gabe has been to his first (safe and secure) emergency scene with Daddy. We went to see a car that had driven through a plate-glass window in a nearby shopping center so that Mommy could get a little time to herself.
Happy men
A big ol' wet one
