TV Reporter Escapes Burning News Van in Calif.

Oct. 26, 2013
A wildfire over ran a TV news van, briefly trapping a veteran reporter in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Oct. 25--The Old Fire raged toward Highway 18 near Running Springs in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Firefighters ran down the highway yelling, "Get out! Get out!" to print and television reporters as the fire began to jump the highway.

KNBC reporter Chuck Henry, a veteran newsman of more than three decades, and his cameraman, Christoper Lee, were among them.

Henry and Lee climbed into their news van. Henry inserted the key into the ignition and attempted to start the vehicle. Nothing.

The fire was too close, depriving the van's engine of needed oxygen and disabling it. Lee was the first out of the van, but Henry continued trying to turn the engine over. Nothing.

Thick smoke enveloped the van.

"I hear my name, 'Chuck, Chuck!' and I went to where the voices were, and it happened to be firefighters in a pickup truck," Henry said. "I just ran and jumped into the back of the pickup."

The Los Angeles firefighters got Henry and Lee to safety as the fire engulfed the news van.

Henry said he gazed in awe at the fiery vortices shooting up and swirling around the mast of his van.

Ten years later, Henry reflects on a moment that could have ended up much worse.

"I've been doing this many years, and I should have never gotten myself in that situation," he said.

And his approach to the job has changed.

"It really woke me up to the risk that people put themselves in when they fight fires, and maybe until that moment, long into my career, I never grasped the magnitude of what firefighters do," Henry said. "Now, anytime we do a fire, any kind of coverage, I make sure they get the credit they deserve."

Copyright 2013 - San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.

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