Another series of fires

It is frustrating being a student journalist. This is something I've pointed out before. I mention it again because it continues to be true. Remember the fires in Pullman last November? I got an early morning phone call about the fire, skipped my first class, and spent the morning covering the fire with Lisa and Victor.

Last night, or early this morning if you prefer, I got a phone call from a photographer at 2 a.m. Apparently, a series of small fires had been set around campus. I got out of bed, don't even change out of my pajamas, and headed to the largest residence hall on campus, which had been evacuated. On the way I call Lisa and Victor and they head to campus to help.

I needed to find out what happened exactly, but the firefighters were busy. Unwilling to give up, I waited outside the residence hall until 3:30 to speak to the Fire Captain on the scene. I got my information, went back to the office, wrote an online story which went up at 4:11 a.m. and returned to my bed by 4:30. I spent the next hour lying awake trying to thaw from my exposure to the elements.

I share all this not to complain. Sure it was difficult, but breaking news is the kind of stuff journalists live for. I was simply disappointed because all my effort wasn't enough. I came into the office this morning at around 8:30 only to discover that an arrest in relation to the fires had been made. A couple hours sleep and we were already behind on the story again, and rather than updating the web version, I had to go to class. There was no skipping possibility this time.

Luckily, Lisa was able to work on the story all day. In the end, I think we made up for the late morning update, but I still wish we hadn't had the gap in our coverage. I ended up having to cancel my news meeting in the afternoon so I could go to the courthouse for the first court appearance of the suspects.

Lisa and I shared a byline for the November fire article and we'll share another in tomorrow's paper. Victor has also been on scene with us both times. He's great for moral support and is always a back up notetaker and helps edit online updates. Apparently we have become quite the reporting trio when it comes to arson coverage.