Results tagged “fire” from The Backstory

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The Ventura City Fire Department frequently sends us photos from the incidents they handle, and while we don't generally publish those in the paper, they can be very interesting.

I received three photos today about an incident involving a child who had to be extricated from a vehicle after his father crashed into a parked semi truck. (Police believe he was driving drunk: http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/dec/31/dui-suspected-in-crash/)

I am including all three below.

Take a look:

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Big doesn't always mean big story

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Just because something is a big deal to someone doesn't mean it's always a big news story.

This may seem odd, even unfair, but it makes sense once you've reported for a while.

Everyone has stories that are immensely important to them, and often those stories are interesting, but there simply isn't space or time to cover all of them.

As I write this, the CHP is listing one traffic accident, for example. I'm sure that accident was a big deal to the people involved.

Generally, we only cover traffic accidents when someone is seriously injured or killed, or if it causes a really serious traffic jam.

I get calls frequently from people who ask me why the horrible accident they saw wasn't in the paper, and that's usually why: (thankfully) the crash didn't make the cut. I don't blame them. I would probably call myself, if I was in their place.

It's good to hear from readers because I'm often sitting in the office, and tips help me stay on top of the news.

But I digress.

Before I got distracted, I started writing this blog entry as an excuse to share this picture with you:

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This photo, courtesy of the Ventura City Fire Department, shows firefighters putting out a fire that destroyed a motor home in Ventura on Wednesday.

As you can see, the fire was pretty dramatic. It totally destroyed the motor home, which was worth an estimated $30,000.

And it was a primary home for its owners, fire officials said in a statement.

That seems like a big deal to me, but it was only a brief in the paper. There was simply too much going on in the past week to look into it more.

In fact, with the tragic Metrolink crash, even a quintuple fatal crash near Fillmore got very limited attention.




The Backstory
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Adam Foxman has covered breaking news and public safety for The Star since January 2007.

He worked for The Tico Times in San José, Costa Rica during the summer of 2006, and reported for The Daily Bruin while at UCLA. He holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature with a minor in Spanish.

When he's not on the beat, he enjoys rock climbing.