How a scanner call turned into an I-75 trek to reach a flaming mobile home in Warren County
Feb. 26—We're often asked how our reporters and photographers do their jobs each day in some tough circumstances. Here's an example that started with a common call on the scanner.
Journal-News photographer Nick Graham was listening to the emergency scanner in his car on Thursday when he heard a call for a fire on Interstate 75. The calls made it clear there was a large backup.
The story turned into a report on a mobile home catching fire and the multi-mile backup on I-75 South at the Ohio 123 exit starting at about 3 p.m. But how Nick got the visuals is another story.
Nick knew by the unit numbers being called that the fire had to be near Franklin. He found an overpass to get some photos of the huge traffic backup to send to our Breaking News Team, which started a report to update people on our website and social media accounts.
Then he wanted to get right to the scene, which isn't easy with hundreds of vehicles in the way. He found a parking lot near the highway and tried to climb a fence, but there was too much brush and trees to get through. He needed another route.
After another car move, he walked down the side of an exit ramp further south of the fire. That led Nick right up to the scene for video, a photo gallery and updates on firefighters working on the flaming mobile home.
That's the kind of work our journalists do every day to report on important stories and update the region.
They just usually don't involve as much fence-climbing.
