More fire information

This is a supplement to the Woodside house fire story assignment sheet

(Alternative link to assignment sheet, previous edition.)

Story length: About 300 words; no more than 350. You are writing for a local paper in Woodside, Calif.

Reminders: One sentence lead. Short paragraphs. Get a human voice into the story early with a direct quote. If possible, choose a quote that supports whatever statement you made in the previous paragraph.

You had terrific follow-up questions to the assignment's basic facts. Of course, reporters can't always get all of their questions answered, but I'll answer a few of them:

First, is the assignment sheet correct about the value of the house? Yes. Woodside is a well-to-do community 35 minutes from San Francisco. The fact sheet says you contacted the assessor's office -- since it says the fire was on Sunday afternoon, we'll assume you got the information from the assessor's office website so that you could file the story by deadline Sunday night.

The traffic jam extended for about a half mile in each direction and lasted about a half hour until the smoke cleared.

Still on the scene, Jan Spiegel tells you that Mrs. Frades is a widow and lives alone. She has been able to reach her son, Daniel Frades, in San Francisco, and he is on the way to Woodside to take care of her. The firefighters were able to extinguish the house fire and the brush fire before it reached any other homes. "The neighbors were lucky," she (Spiegel) says. "A little more wind and we could have been in trouble."

You check your clips at the office and see that there is no recent history of vandalism in the area, but that the brushy area along the highway has had brush fires in the past. "We are aware of the danger in dry and windy weather," Spiegel says.

You ask why the neighbors didn't see the fire. Spiegel shrugs and says that only a couple of people were at home, the homes are on treed and hilly land, and the people were inside in air conditioned houses. "They didn't see the flames, didn't smell the smoke," Spiegel says. They were evacuated just in case the brush fire was whipped up by the wind and got closer to them.

You ask Mrs. Frades about her missing animals. She says they are a black standard poodle named Fred and three brown tabby cats named Mo, Manny and Millie. The house had pet doors. She hopes they are safe and will return soon or be picked up by the neighbors. (The barn was just being used as a storage building and garage; there were no other animals.) The house was already on fire when she got home, so she was not able to retrieve anything. "It's pretty much all gone," she says. You ask what she'll do now. She says her son Dan lives in San Francisco; she has called him and he is on the way.

She'll be staying with him, his wife and her two grandchildren tonight. She says, "I guess we'll figure out where to go from there."

She says the house was insured. But she's still obviously tired and upset and near tears. You decide you've bothered her enough and go back to talk to the fire captain.

Spiegel tells you the firefighter treated for heat exhaustion is Lisa Jimenez. 

The home owner placed the 9-1-1 call at 4:20; the first fire truck arrived within 15 minutes, but the building was already "fully involved," Spiegel says.

Investigation of the cause of the brushfire and its spread to the house will resume when there's light tomorrow morning, she said. 

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Check out the great questions that you all came up with: 

what are the descriptions of the missing animals? (maybe descriptions can help people from the area identify them if they are still alive and wandering.)
What was the name of the firefighter who suffered heat exhaustion?
Was anything able to be saved?

1. were any neighbors homes damaged?
2. did the dogs and cats ever show up?
3. was Frades able to recover any of her possessions?
4. what plans does Frades have for living arrangements?

Where will she go?
Does she have any family that will care for her?
Did the fire do any damage to surrounding neighbors?
What is the name of the firefighter who went to the hospital?
Were the pets locked inside or were they outside?
Do they think the fire was intentional?
Where were the neighbors? Why didn't they call?
What do the neighbors have to say about her and the fire?

How long did it take for fire fighters to respond to the call?

Is the fire suspected to be arson?

About how much damage was done, monetarily?

How did the fire start? How long did the fire last until the firefighters had it under control? Was anyone harmed in the fire? What was the weather like on the day of the fire?

What happened to her pets?
Do they know?

Have they heard any more information about how the fire started? Are there any precautions that they fire department may make in case of a similar fire in the area?

What does Frades plan to do now? Does she have family to stay with?

Was she (or firefighters) able to save any of her belongings/ paper work?

Ms. Frades
1. Was the house insured?
2. What is the thing you will miss most?
3. Is anything salvagable?
4. Did you have an emergency plan in case of something like this?
5. Do you have any family in the area?
6. Do you have hope that they will find your missing pets alive?

Ms. Spiegel:
1. Are you taking any precautions for the area in case of another incident like this?
2. Is there any way to find out who did this?
3. What can people do to prevent this from happening to them?
4. Perhaps the county could offer a fire-awareness class?

Was there damage done to any other properties before the blaze was contained?

where is Frades going until she is relocated?

how many fires are started due to careless littering?

1. Were any other homes close to being damaged by the fire?
2. What was the effect on the evacuees?
3. What type of home was it?

1. Was anyone else injured other than the firefighter being treated for heat exhaustion?
2. Were there any animals in the barn at the time of the fire?
3. What things were most valuable in your home that you lost?
4. Do you have somewhere else to stay?
5. Do you have insurance on the house?
6. What is one thing that you wish you could have saved?
7. How much did the wind impact putting out the fire?
8. Do you think that the wind was the biggest reason the fire was able to spread so quickly?

What now for Melinda Frades?
What leads do investigators have?
How can a fire like this be prevented?
Who is going to help Mrs. Frades?
Did the weather influence this fire at all?
What causes are officers investigating?
Is this a possible case of arson?

 

What is Frades supposed to do now that she has no home?
In the case that a fire occurred when the homeowner was not home, who is to blame?
Does Frades have home insurance?
Were any animals harmed when the barn burned down?
What happened to Frades' pets?
What items were the most expensive that were lost in the fire?