Sandmtnphotg On The Job

Here is a picture of me shooting a live shot with Jerry Hayes during our coverage of the firetruck wreck. Carson took this during the 6pm show.

Firefighter Killed in Wreck

Wednesday night I was home when I got a call about a firetruck from one of our local volunteer departments going off of a bridge. I called the station and jumped in my truck and headed for the scene. Normally when I get called out on breaking news I'm busy listening to the scanner, making calls trying to figure out what's going on and exactly where it is. This time was different. Being a photographer in a bureau means you get to know the fire departments, police and other emergency workers pretty well. And this was the Asbury Fire Department and I knew a bunch of their guys really well. So not only was I trying to get to the scene as quickly as possible, but I was also worrying about the people in the accident. Once I get to the wreck I find out one of the firefighters in the truck has died and 2 of the others are very seriously hurt. It turns out I didn't know any of the people in the truck, but that really doesn't matter. All of the volunteer firefighters out there put there life on the line everytime they go out to fight a fire, and they do it for little or no money. They do it because they love to do it. The lady who died in the wreck was a 17 year old whose brother and daddy were both in the department, and she would become a full member when she turned 18. Her brother was in the truck with her and he is in UAB fighting for his life. Firefighting was in her blood, and her friends said it was something she loved to do. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family in their time of loss.
Check out www.asburyfire.com for more information.

Alabama Alligator

Took off to Cherokee County today for a story about an alligator in a swamp there. Now, for those of you who might not know, Cherokee County is in Northeast Alabama which isn't typically gator country. Locals think someone brought him home and then released him in this swampy area. Seems people gather around in the evenings and bring chicken, hot dogs, pretty much anything they think a gator might eat, and then toss food to the gator. Well, now the Authorities are involved and are thinking about removing our celebrity alligator to an area more out of the limelight. Unfortunately today we had no gator sightings, but that log in the one picture fooled me for a little while.

No Tents For You!

After a morning shoot on a story about avian flu and how Marshall County can prepare for it coming to our area, Carson and I rode out to beautiful DeKalb County Lake in Sylvania. No, not for a morning of fishing but for a story on how tents aren't allowed in the campgrounds. Seems a state law outlaws tents in the campgrounds of state owned lakes. The law has been loosely enforced in the past but now has some people upset because they don't have a RV. According to the state, the issue is that folks in tents don't have the means to dispose of their "gray water", which is water used in washing dishes and cleaning up. Now, I don't know about you, but when I go camping, in a tent, I don't spend a whole lot of time washing dishes. That's what Chinette is for. But that's their reason and now folks are upset and that's why I'm out here at this beautiful lake not fishing but working. Oh the things I do for you the viewers.

Here We Go Again

Breaking news from DeKalb County this afternoon. Got a call from the Sheriff saying they were digging up a body just outside of Crossville. We got to the scene to find investigators from DeKalb and Marshall county there. Seems an informant told them a body had been buried in a shed behind a house outside Crossville. After digging down a couple of feet, they hit concrete which had been poured on top of the body. So a backhoe was called in to unearth the concrete and get to the body. Right now, authorities aren't saying much about the circumstances surrounding the murder. But sources tell us that the dead man was a drug dealer robbed and killed for his money and drugs, then dismembered and buried here. In the past, DeKalb county has been the dumping site for people killed in other places and brought here to get rid of them. It hasn't happened in a long time. Until today.