Trial by Fire

By Gordon Hopkins I have covered fire stories before, but nothing like this.I've told plenty of tales about how I ran out to some fire, perhaps in my pajamas, perhaps standing in the rain or the snow or searing heat, watching the local firefighters take on a house engulfed in flames or perhaps a wide open field, trying to keep a blaze from encroaching on dwellings. I've come home from covering these stories hacking from smoke and smelling like a pack of cigarettes.I stand out there in my reflective, yellow vest, with my camera, snapping photos and trying to stay out of the way of the people doing the important work.I didn't do a lot of that this time. Despite being the biggest fire I've ever covered, I did most of my work sitting at my desk, using my computer and my phone. Actually, that's the way a lot of news stories are worked, but a fire story? That's something where you expect a reporter to be out in the thick of things.Well, things don't always work the way you think they should. When a fire or big story breaks, especially disasters like a fire, the most important thing any reporter can do is stay out of the way.I know how it looks in the movies and TV. They always show some reporter going up to a firefighter or cop or other first responder, sticking a microphone or recorder in their face and demanding, “So what's the scoop?”If I did that, my boss would fire me.Aside from anything else, that kind of thing is totally unnecessary. There's plenty of time to get the details after the first responders have done their job.The paper had a photographer out at the Rock Creek fire early on, before we knew how bad is was really going to get. He left as things were really getting heavy. We haven't been back since.Folks who've been following along on social media understand why. Emergency management and fire officials and pretty much everyone else were practically begging people to stay away. Roads needed to be kept open for more and more emergency vehicles and equipment.Unfortunately, not everyone listened. There have been numerous reports of people wanting to get getting in the way, slowing down traffic while trying to get photos or videos to post online or just to stand and watch the activity, frustrating the people who had a very important job to do.An event like this shows you what a community is made of, both good and bad.As for the good, people out combating a massive wildfire such as this are always in dire need of a variety of items you don't think about until you are out in the middle of a scorched field and realize you don't have water. I don't mean water to put on a fire. I mean water to drink. And food, which you need when you are out for days at a time. There are lots of little things like this. How about eyewash? You think eyewash isn't a necessity? Try standing the way of a cloud of smoke for hours at a time and then say it isn't a necessity. In the horrible heat and smoke, even lip balm becomes all important.The community came through with donations of all these needed items and more. These were people wanting to show support or just wanting to help in some way.

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