Hallelujah! An Amazing Press Release

We learned tonight about a fatal fire in Monroe County, Michigan. For no specific reason, I was dreading the Sunday night phone call to the department that handled the call — and the likely goose chase to track down the chief, on a weekend, as he’s likely the only one who could confirm the information.

So I call and identify myself, asking if there’s a way to get a message to the chief. A private transfers me to a captain.

The captain, as I suspected, couldn’t give me information. A step closer to setting my sights on said goose.

Brief: This is Only a Drill

If you’re doing training exercises on the air, make sure you clearly — and frequently — announce that it’s a drill. Hearing “firefighter down” in a busy newsroom will mean phones ringing off the hook at every dispatch center they have a number for.

Plus, it’s good common sense in case some neighboring department happens to be scanning.

Want to take it a step further? Call your newsrooms a half-hour or so ahead of time and let them know about your drill.

The dispatchers will thank you.

You’re a what-now…?

We all know who reporters and anchors are. Photographers (the phrase I’m sticking with for the sake of this blog to refer to TV camera folks) are pretty easy to spot. But let’s go over the who’s-who in a typical television station to cover some of the lesser-known, or lesser-understood, positions who will have direct interaction with firefighters.

“No Room”

“Just keep the media out there. There’s no room for them up here and there’s nothing for them to see, either.”

Granted, this is a mobile home fire in a mobile home park, but the photographer has feet and will stay out of the way.

Now, instead of being at your scene for 15 minutes to get video, a little bit of information and leave, he’ll likely be there much longer waiting for you. Instead of being in a safe spot inside the park, he’ll be standing at the street assisting to distract traffic, and his truck — likely parked alongside the road — will be there much longer.

In the meantime, I’m calling dispatch for information you don’t control and tying them up — exactly what I’d rather not do, but it’s my job.

Let ’em up. Again, they’re not children. You didn’t kick all the neighbors out, right? Then I’d imagine there’s room.

They’re not evil children

Let’s start with toilets. If a plumber rips you off, do you decide never to call a plumber again?

Yeah. Didn’t think so. Unless you’re Tim Taylor, you’re just going to be more cautious in picking the next one.

Yet, a firefighter or police officer can have one bad encounter with a reporter or photographer and assume — from there on out — the media can’t be trusted.