By Miles Layton

About that fire in Hertford…

Here’s another installment of Press Pass, a column about newspapers – how a fire story is/was written. 

As many folks know, there was a house fire Saturday night in Hertford. From what I gathered from neighbors, they thought the property owner was not living there but was planning to fix up the place. Not sure of the exact details.  

Based on what I saw – that home was heavily damaged by fire and smoke – probably a total loss.  

I’ve written many, many stories about house fires in my time, so I can say that more than a few houses – wooden with old electric wiring – are probably at risk too for fire damage in that part of Hertford or for that matter, many small towns across Northeast NC. 

I remember the first house fire I covered – an old two-story wooden farm house deep in Jackson County, Ohio. Family had been living there for many years. That newspaper closed a few years ago—poor corporate decisions: the Jackson Times-Journal. That was the first paper where I ever worked as editor. Many memories. These days, The Telegram, a locally owned paper based in Jackson, is doing a good job reporting the news from that corner of the world.

Back to the fire — it was cold that day that the fire call came in over the scanner, probably in December. A lot of fires happen around the holidays.  

I drove out there – a 30-45 minute drive one way into farm country – to see fire trucks’ blinking lights bordering the smoking home. 

I remember the family watching in stunned silence. They were wearing blankets, pajamas and not much more in the bitter cold. 

Many reporters tend to ask stupid questions in the wake of a tragedy – how do you feel? – so they can get a comment to include with the story.  

If a reporter asked me such an asinine question while my house was burning down, I would’ve responded by saying “F*** you – how do you think I feel dumbass!?”  

Rather than ask dumb questions, it’s better to be empathetic and let the family do the talking if they want, and be compassionate about getting quotes for what’s sure to be the worst day of their lives. That’s what I did with that family then, and moving forward — lot of fires over the years.

I’ve always been careful to stay out of the firefighters’ way as they worked to contain the blaze. During my career, I’ve seen arrogant reporters be dicks about that – trying to grab a fire chief for comment while crews are busy.

More than a few reporters I’ve met think that because they have a camera and notebook, the world should stop what it’s doing to suit their story. I once heard a tale of a reporter – he’s still around, writing news – who called a local EMS director late on Christmas Eve to get more information about a story people have long since forgotten. EMS folks still talk about that jerk. If they see that media outlet’s phone number on the caller ID, they let it go to voicemail.  

Not me – when taking notes at a fire scene, it’s best to wait until things have cooled down to get more information from a fire chief. First responders have a job to do. And unless a terrorist flies a jet into the tallest building in Edenton, no one should ever call an EMS director on Christmas Eve – most stories can wait.  

And really, most observant journalists – should – be able to pick up what’s happening at a fire to get enough details for a story without needing to bother the chief, then follow up with another story if needed.  

Important details – when did the fire start – you can get that time-mark from 911. 

What fire department is the primary? Which departments assisted? Most of the time, that information can be found by reading the names on the doors of the fire trucks that are parked around the burning structure.  Always talk to the primary responder — it’s bad form to get information from a chief at another fire department whose crew was called into assist.

Reporters should be able to describe the fire’s intensity and note signs to indicate how severe the damage is. If you can see flames and a big plume of smoke, then it’s probably a big fire, not some stove fire that overcooked the beans. If you see water shooting from a fire hose through the roof, the fire has spread to the attic, and there will likely be heavy structural damage. 

Note the firefighters’ working conditions – fighting a fire in negative temperatures day or night is challenging. One nighttime fire in West Brownsville, Pa – it was so cold that the ink in my pen froze. Water flowing away from the fire froze to the driveway and street. Always carried a pencil as a backup after that. Tech freezes too.

Remember, firefighters in rural areas are volunteers, so they have to return to their “day” jobs after the smoke clears, so be respectful in the news coverage.  

One fire I’ll never forget – a resort lodge in Nemacolin, Pa. Large wooden structure in the mountains. Big flames – many fire companies battled the blaze. Fire trucks were lined up for at least a quarter mile leading up to the fire – flames were very visible against the nighttime sky. The fire was so intense that heated ash fell from the sky – yeah, I got slightly burned. 

Photographer and I quickly assessed the situation, got what we could and drove back to the Herald-Standard in Uniontown, Pa. Mountain driving too… up, down and around steep hills on icy roads. I smelled like smoke when I got to my desk to start writing. I filed that story with great photos before the deadline – a front-page “must read” news story the next day.  

Before the days of “helicopter journalism” with reporters grabbing stuff from social media and maybe pointing a video camera and announcing the obvious – these should be the questions that journalists should be asking about major fires.  

Value of fire damage – how much? 

Who are the property owners?  

Sometimes this information is not readily available at the scene, which is still evolving as the fire is being contained — were there any injuries? This question applies to firefighters and the home’s residents, maybe even neighbors.  

People love their pets – were there any pets hurt?  

Was anyone displaced? If so, who and how can the community help? 

What caused the fire? Do you suspect arson? Those questions become important if it is a random abandoned house, maybe one out in the country. 

Covering a fire is journalism practiced at its most basic level – if you can get this right, then the bigger stories will fall into place.  

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If you want to reach out to me, my email address is mileslayton1969@gmail.com