"This is a dark day in Lemoore."-John Murray, City of Lemoore Mayor

This past Saturday morning, about 1:30 a.m., I awoke to the smell of a campfire scenting my room. I particularly love the smell of campfires, but not in my room.

A fire had broken out in an apartment complex less than a mile from my bedroom, and it's smell canvassed most of town.

But this was not your everyday fire, in fact it was the worst fire in the history of Lemoore, killing five people. All of them were under the age of 20.

Being the journalist that I am, I hoped out of bed after my cousin alerted me where this fire was. In less than five minutes I was out the door with my camera gear on my way still feeling a little groggy.

I didn't find out that find out five people didn't make it out until about 2:30 a.m. I talked with the mother of three of the victims, while she patiently waited for news. Though obviously distraught, she had no problem talking with me. Niether did one of the victims bestfriends, who had just visited his friend hours before.

It's intersting, that the people that are directly affected with the incident had no problem talking with me, but one person, who was a bystandard, was upset that I was there reporting. They felt that I was in the wrong covering the tragic fire.

This has really grabed a hold of me the past couple of days since. Was I wrong to be there covering the fire? If so, what makes it wrong?

Personally, I don't feel that I was wrong. It was a news event that people wanted to know about. But beyond that, I feel that those five that parished deserved to be known. Their story deserves to be spread from each and every person possible, so that they too can mourn with the family.

People might think journalist are just looking for a next story, not caring about the event they are reporting on, and are only doing it because it's their job. I can tell you being a journalist is more than a job. I don't do it for the pay, because there isn't much, and I don't do it for the recognition, because my name will be in the paper no matter what I write.

Not to sound cliche, but I do it for the people. I do it to inform, to educate and to assist. I do it because I like too.

This was not just another story for me. Five people parished, and I was there watching the reaction of the family and friends as they waited for any kind of informaiton from authorities. I felt just as bad as any other person out there, and didn't sleep much after I went home at 4:30 a.m. because I couldn't stop thinking about how five people younger than me just died.

I guess that's part of being a journalist though, taking the good stories with the bad, but it still stings a little. That was the first tragic incident that I have had to cover in person, less than a week before I leave the paper. It was the first time someone didn't agree with my presence. A lot of first.

My heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of those who died. It's a tragic event that will be remembered for years to come.

God bless.