Multi Alarm Arson Fire in Plant City, FL

Fires and car crashes are a Stringer’s bread and butter, most of what we shoot will be one of the two. In this lesson I will talk about photographing structural fire scenes and how to stay safe. A fire makes for great photos but unfortunately fires usually happen at night making it extremely difficult to shoot.  When shooting a nighttime fire scene leave the flash off. Not only does your speedlight strobe going off freak out firefighters (they think its lightning or arcing power lines) but it also gives away your position. You are trying to remain as stealth as possible to get the truly candid shots, you would be surprised how people change once they realize a camera is on the scene. To get good fire scene photos shoot high ISO and use a tripod, the photos will come out a lot better that way. If you use an E-TTL flash which is on all of the major DSLR cameras, it will be fooled by the firefighter’s reflective gear resulting in an under exposed image. When you fire the E-TTL  flash the camera fires a pre-flash, it bounces off the subject, comes through the lens and meters the scene all in a split second. So when the pre-flash fires it detects the brightest part of the scene and automatically exposes for it, which in this case is the reflected light coming off of the firefighters reflective strips. The camera will meter for that bright light bouncing back and under expose the rest of the scene which is unacceptable. If you absolutely must shoot with a flash use full manual and a slow shutter speed, it is a tricky balance but with practice you will be able to nail the shot.

Here are some example shots:

(Shot with Flash) The camera will underexpose the scene using E-TTL because of the firefighter's reflective gear.

Using no flash with high ISO you can capture a night fire scene with no under exposure

Shooting a fire presents lots of challenges and isn’t always easy showing up to a fire to start shooting. There are some safety, technical and logistical challenges to overcome in order to get the money shot.  Logistically it can be hard to get access to a fire scene especially if it is on a small road. Once cops arrive on the scene they will shut down the roads blocking all traffic coming in. You will probably have to park you car far away and walk to the scene, but be ready to show a press pass because the officer blocking the road will want to see it. The other logistical challenge is actually getting to the scene on time! The key to making the most money on the image is getting flames, if you get there too late your photos are of less value because the charred building will still  be there when the newspaper photographer gets on the scene. You want to have the edge over the newspaper and get what they don’t have, and what they want is flames and drama. If you get to the fire in time and there are still flames shooting through the roof START SHOOTING! Get as many flame photos as possible, then advance closer and closer to the actual structure. More than likely a police officer or firefighter may tell you to leave so making flame photos asap is priority.[private_pro]

Multi Alarm Fire Caused By A Knocked Over Candle

While you are making your beautiful shots of the fire ripping through the roof keep in mind that you are watching someones home burn to the ground. Other than a family member dieing, a house fire is probably one of the worse things that can happen to a family. Loosing everything a family has worked for because of a fire is a very tramatic experience. As odd as it sounds fires peak in the winter which is around Christmas time. As the temperature drops people struggle to keep warm by using un safe space heaters or by leaving their ovens on and open. Those can cause accidental fires while they sleep and sometimes claiming the occupants in the house. Sadly fires that happen during or near the holidays make big news, many fires are caused by Christmas lights on live Christmas trees. A family that looses everything including Christmas presents under the tree in a house fire makes news.Don’t worry because usually their story in the paper as well as your dramatic photo also attracts people with good hearts to help them through the holidays.

Sometimes a fire will effect a family even when the home owner did nothing unsafe. On a fire I shot a man had no electricity inside his home so used candles. It was reported that his cat knocked over the candle igniting the room on fire. This person lived in an apartment complex on the first floor so when the fire developed it moved up and out to the top units. That particular scene was made worse because the apartment complex did not have working hydrants all in all the fire claimed eight units.

While on the fire scene keep your scanner in your camera bag with an earpiece to monitor the situation. Keep the earpiece in only one ear so you can still hear what is going on at the actual scene. By listening to the fire ground chatter you can get a feel for what is going on and what additional units may be coming. Are they requesting an investigator? Did they find a body? Is one of the firefighters missing or injured? By monitoring the scene on your police scanner you will be better able to make shots relevant to the story.

Sometimes you can almost predict what can happen on the scene based on season, time of day and location. How on earth can you predict something like that? Well it’s something I learned in firefighter school. Time of day, neighborhood, weather and things around the house can give details about what you may find inside. Are there cars in the driveway? Children s toys in the yard? Shoes at the front door?

Firefigthers try to gain acces to the fire burning in the garage

For example: You get a call on a Tuesday, late at night for a house fire with flames through the roof. As a firefighter getting out of the bed and getting in the truck you already know that a fire late at night on a weekday with flames through the roof means that someone should be inside sleeping possibly with children. When a fire gets so bad that it is through the roof that means that the fire had been burning for some time to engulf the room and contents then burn through the roof or blow out the windows. By that time the entire house will be filled with thick black smoke and high heat choking the occupants. By the time the fire truck gets on the scene and the firefighter jumps out he sees the neighbor that called 911 waiting outside but the homeowner is nowhere to be found and there is a mini van in the driveway, the search is on.  Did the family get consumed by the smoke and flames? or are they simply out of town? You can find out a lot about what is going on at the scene by monitoring the scanner and paying attention to the time of day. So next time you are responding to a fire scene start using your brain to prepare yourself for the type of fire scene you may encounter.

You already know time is of the essence when shooting fires so once you feel you have the money shot and the flames have been extinguished go ahead and start making calls or sending emails to your contact lists . If the fire is major and doesn’t look like it is going to end anytime soon or it just gets worse continue making photos.  As the fire intensifies and gets larger roads may be blocked and staff photographer will have difficulty getting to the scene. If the scene is under control and no other photo ops are available, get back to your car and start transmitting images. Today newspapers and television stations are very web heavy and with the ability to post images anytime on the web you can potentially make a sale even before the paper gets printed or the story goes to air! So send out a media alert and start sending images!

Scene Safety

As mentioned before a fire scene can be very dangerous, heavy smoke, downed power lines, intense heat melting your car and even a lingering arsonist are all things you should think about when responding to a call. The first thing you should think about when pulling up to a fire scene is where to park. If the fire is in an apartment complex or on a small road you may be blocked in by responding units and hose lines. You may be responding to a normal house fire, but if that fire gets out of control and they request a second alarm then double the amount of fire trucks is on your way. When those trucks get there they will need somewhere to park and if you are in the way you will get blocked in!  Sometimes a fire does not have a nearby hydrant so the fire engine will lay a line of hose called supply line that goes from the hydrant to the fire truck. Once the supply line is laid it is not coming up until the fire is completely out.  Don’t even think of trying to drive over the hose either! That is something that can damage the hose and the fire truck,  if a firefighter or cop sees you even attempting to drive over the hose you will get kicked out and possibly arrested!

So where should you park?  Well in an apartment complex I would park near the leasing office or near a secondary exit away from the scene or just on the other side of where the units are responding to. Open up your maps app in your phone or look at your mapbook to get the layout of the apartment complex.  Keep an ear on the scanner to find out where the second alarm unit will be staging (setting up) and park away from that! If the fire is on a two-lane residential road park on an intersection away from a hydrant. By remembering these tips you should be able to find a safe location to park without the chance of getting blocked in.

Massive Amounts Of Hose Laid Out Like This Can Block Your Car For Hours!

Once you finally parked your vehicle and started to walk to the scene keep monitoring the scanner and listen for any hazards like downed power lines or exposives/bullets that may be going off in the fire. Garage fires are especially dangerous because that is where the home owner keeps hazardous chemicals that could produce poisonous gasses. Many times a fire will burn power lines or may even be caused by downed power lines setting fire to the home so monitor for any hazards that may be at the actual scene. If the scene is during the night be sure to grab your flashlight to help you look for hazards while walking to the scene.

The closer you get to the scene the greater your chances are of being stopped by a cop or by apartment security, if hassled by a security guard I would tell him that I live in the complex and am taking photos. Now lieing isn’t a good thing and I am not telling you to lie to the security guard but that is what I would do.. Now if a cop stops you, NEVER EVER lie to him, lieing to an officer is a crime so never do it,  just identify yourself as a news photographer and tell him you won’t be long and that you have a deadline. That line usually works for me. Usually on a fire scene cops are pretty cool and are probably taking photos themselves, the Fire dept. is in charge so be sure to not make them mad by getting too close or you will be ejected from the scene. If you have done the steps in the Gathering Contacts lesson then things will be a lot easier.

Arson Fire

Sometimes the home owners may be at the scene watching their home burn to the ground, and as you can imagine that is a very emotional thing. Watch what you say and make sure your compassion shows, don’t go around telling everyone how awesome the flames look or joke around with bystanders. That is someones home burning to the ground be considerate. If you don’t the home owner or family members may try to attack you, while this is obviously illegal to do a cop will most likely be on the grieving homeowners side so be careful.

The Money Shot

• Flames
  I already went into detail about the importance of getting photos of flames so hopefully you will get the flames before the staffers do!
• Victims
  Not only are the flames consuming the structure, it can also claim pets, family members or first responders. Monitor that scanner and listen to the firefighters chatter inside the building and be ready to snap the photo if they say they are bring out a victim. Stick with that victim and shoot them treating the patient whether it is them receiving oxygen or CPR. That is the ultimate money shot.
• Firefighters
  Sometimes a firefighter will get injured by falling debris, heat exhaustion or even worse and explosion. If a firefighter is injured snap that photo!
• Home owners
  Some home owners will stand in front of the home crying and hugging kids, family members or pets as they watch their dream home burn to the ground. As sad as that sounds that is what photo editors want.
• Personal belongings
  Burned childrens toys, bicycles and cars make for good photo illustrations if the homeowner is not available to be shot.
• Scenics
  When firefighters spray hoses from a ladder truck on a sunny day a rainbow can sometimes be scene. A happy rainbow photo is not something a photo editor will be wanting but it looks good in your portfolio!

Fire Scene Photos

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