2012 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | GOULDS BACK LINE BARN FIRE |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | December 11, 2012 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | The Telegram |
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| Location: | St. John's, NL |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: 2012 Atlantic Journalism Awards CATEGORY: SPOT-NEWS PHOTOJOURNALISM TITLE: GOULDS BACK LINE BARN FIRE These photographs submitted here in the Spot News Photojournalism category are the result of a busy couple of hours from a major barn fire in the Gould's, a tiny suburb of the west-end of St. John's, which occurred on Monday morning, December 10, 2012. I had only been at work for about a half-hour or so on that morning when a call came over the newsroom scanner of fire trucks being dispatched to a "structure fire" on the Back Line in the Goulds'. So I immediately obtained the key to my Telegram rig and grabbed my camera gear and headed in through the main highway leading into the Gould's and as I got closer I could see the smoke billowing up into the air. Once I got on the fire scene I called back to the newsroom and informed them it was a big horse barn that was on fire and it might be worthwhile to send in a reporter. At first I had to shoot off a few iphone photos for our Telegram website with my iPhone IV cell phone and also shoot a little video as well. Once this was done and photos emailed back to the newsroom for the website, I then began shooting off frames with my Nikon D3Hs digital camera with attached Nikon 80-200 2.8 telephoto lens of the firefighters at work. By this time now, the fire had began to quickly advance and exploded out through the barn doors. As can be seen here on the top of the Page A1 photo, the firefighters were spraying down the nearby home of the barn owners as the house itself was also in danger of catching fire. In the end it was able to be saved, thanks to the valiant efforts of the firefighters. Being the only photographer on that morning and the only one at the fire, it was one where I had to get all the possible photo angles of the fire covered from the firefighters themselves going about their work, to the paramedics there on stand-by, to the police officers cordoning off the street with their yellow police tape and to the Newfoundland Power linemen cutting off power to the barn and homes in the vicinity. Fortunately, all the horses in the barn were able to be safely rescued by the family members and neighbours there that morning and who took them to a nearby grazing paddock field area before the fire advanced as fast as it did. Once I had gotten most of the photos needed of the firefighters at their work and also the NL Power guys there once they arrived going about their work, I then headed down to where the horses were grazing to and patiently waited until a few of them came towards me and was then able to get a few photos of some of the horses in the field area with the fire still burning in the background. So in the end, with a pair of cold wet feet from having to cross over the field area in some swamp water to get the photos of the horses and despite getting my brand new Telegram photo department work jacket christened in smoke wearing it for the very first time, I feel the mission was accomplished in the end. In getting the photos and videos of the fire for The Telegram website first and sent back to work and then concentrating with the digital photos, for publication in The Telegram the following day on Tuesday, December 11, 2012, and of the firefighters going about their work in combating their barn fire, for me personally, not too bad of a job for doing it all being the only photo body there and with assistance from The Telegram reporter as well. All worthy enough for me to submit as the first of my two entries into the Spot News Photojournalism category for the 2012 AJA's. But unfortunately, later that night, there was ironically, another nearby barn fire in The Gould's where several animals were lost in that fire, as you can see on the submitted pdf pages of the photos by fellow staffer Keith Gosse.. Thank-you Joe Gibbons, The Telegram |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: |
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