Tuesday, January 28, 2014
After reports in the national media and on social media, I was sent to Michigan City, Ind. on Thursday evening to photograph the scene of a colossal pileup. My drive happened to coincide with one of the worst snow storms I’ve ever had to drive through (and this is coming from someone who lived in Wyoming). Somehow I made it and was able to make a few pictures of the destruction along the interstate. It’s truly unlike anything I had ever seen. It was so unread it seemed like something one might see in a disaster movie.
Police and firefighters work to clean up a colossal crash in the eastbound lane of Interstate 94 near Michigan City, Ind. on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014. Three died and more than 20 others were injured in the pileup. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)
A first responder checks inside a mangled passenger vehicle after a colossal crash in the eastbound lane of Interstate 94 near Michigan City, Ind. on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
I spent most of my workday on Monday waiting at the scene of a fatal plane crash on South Bend’s west side. A day earlier the small luxury jet fell out of the sky, hitting a residential neighborhood near the South Bend Regional Airport. Miraculously no one on the ground was killed in the accident. Two people in the jet were killed in the crash.
A South Bend firefighter holds an axe-wielding comrade by the tail of his jacket as the two try to cut through a section of roof, allowing an awaiting excavator, pictured in background, to remove a piece of the home from plane wreckage on Monday, March 18, 2013, along Iowa Street in South Bend. The jet crashed into a neighborhood near the airport a day earlier, killing two of four on board and injuring two on the ground. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)
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Tuesday, February 12, 2013
For the first time in the year I’ve been at the South Bend Tribune, I finally photographed some flames. Usually when I am called out for fires, I get there just in time to see the firefighters rolling up their hoses or looking around at a smoking home. This fire, as it turned out, was one of the worst in the city of Mishawaka in several decades and by far the worst I have ever photographed.
Firefighters battle a blaze at the former RMG Foundry on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, in Mishawaka. The factory, formerly a Dodge plant, closed in 2006. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)
Firefighters on a ladder truck battle a blaze at the former RMG Foundry on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, in Mishawaka. (James Brosher/South Bend Tribune)
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Friday, December 30, 2011
It’s been a little windy the past couple of days. And by a little, I mean we had wind gusts reported at 90 mph on Thursday. Welcome to Wyoming.
Motorists proceed cautiously past two overturned tractor trailers that were blown over by high winds on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in the southbound lane of Interstate 25 just south of the High Plains interchange near Cheyenne. Wind blew over the tractor trailer pictured at right around midday on Wednesday followed by a similar incident that toppled the tractor trailer pictured in the background sometime on Thursday morning. For the second day in a row, road signs on the interstate indicated a light trailer restriction for high profile vehicles between the Colorado state line and Cheyenne due to wind gusts higher than 65 mph. (James Brosher/Wyoming Tribune Eagle)
Ed Cullen, a City of Cheyenne Department of Urban Forestry employee, surveys a downed tree on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in front of 1206 and 1208 Cosgriff Court in Cheyenne. High winds toppled the tree onto a car. (James Brosher/Wyoming Tribune Eagle)
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Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday started off as a very slow day until it wasn’t. I was on my way back from Wheatland Tuesday afternoon when a severe thunderstorm rolled through town. Luckily, I was miles north on Interstate 25 when a hail storm pounded much of the central part of the city, leaving cars across the city dimpled with hail dents. When I drove past the Wyoming State Capitol, it became apparent this wasn’t a typical hail storm. There was a ton of hail. I swung by the office then headed back out to look for storm aftermath shots. I parked near Pando Park and shot a few kids playing in the park that was submerged in about 40 inches of water. A parent mentioned Pershing Avenue got pounded by the hail. I jumped in my truck and drove over to Pershing. A few blocks down the street, I noticed some extreme fog in a cemetery and doubled back to shoot a ghostly shot of the fog rising amongst the tombstones. At this point, I had to put my truck into four wheel drive to make it down the streets. A police car caught my eye as I headed south. One of the intersections – 23rd Street and Bradley Avenue – was completely submerged and covered in hail. I noticed a lot of people gathered at the intersection as some residents tried to clear drains. I ended up shooting most of my take at that intersection. I’ve been in Cheyenne for seven months now, and this is by far the craziest story I’ve covered. I have never seen hail like this before, especially with such a large accumulation. It reminds me of a scene from “The Day After Tomorrow.”
Dave Hefenieder, a Cheyenne employee, uses a pitch fork to unclog a storm drain at the intersection of 23rd Street and Bradley Avenue on Tuesday, July 12, 2011, in Cheyenne. Cheyenne received 1.46 inches of rain between 5:15 and 5:50 p.m., according to the National Weather Service along with hail up to golf ball size.
Cheyenne police officer Joel Hickerson, left, and Christine Escobar shove debris out of a storm drain on Tuesday, July 12, 2011, at the intersection of 23rd Street and Bradley Avenue in Cheyenne. Escobar, who lives one house from the intersection on 23rd Street, said she was able to save a few things in her basement before a "waterfall" flooded her home. Several residents, police officers and city employees armed with shovels, pitch forks, brooms and military entrenching tools quickly cleared debris from the intersection's drains to allow flood waters to subside until a city snow plow and two front loaders arrived to clear the intersection.
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Saturday, July 9, 2011
When I got out of bed Friday morning, I thought I’d be on a golf course all day photographing a tournament in Cheyenne. But when I got into the office – dressed like a golfer – I learned that I would be instead heading up to Wheatland, Wyo. to photograph the scene of a quadruple homicide. Slight change of plans. Wheatland is a town with a population of roughly 3,600 people located about an hour north of Cheyenne along Interstate 25. It’s got a real small-town feel. Reporter Lindsey Kroskob and I arrived at the scene around 10 a.m. just as a couple crime scene investigators (pictured below) where working inside the home. I shot a press conference at 11:30 a.m. followed by a very good calzone at Terra Grano Pizza as we waited for the suspect’s initial appearance in court later in the day. After the suspect’s court appearance, I was able to get a shot of him as he was lead across an alleyway from the courthouse to the county jail. This is the first time I’ve shot a big spot news assignment like this in a while. One of the striking things was how relaxed access was. For example, I was shocked I was able to get so close to the scene. The frame below is more or less the entire frame shot with a crop body camera, 300 mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter.
A crime scene technician takes a measurement in a window of a mobile home that appears to have been broken by a bullet on Friday, July 8, 2011, at 757 E. Oak St. #19 in Wheatland, Wyo. Wheatland police arrested Everett Conant III at the home Thursday evening after a shooting that left four people dead and one injured. The yellow and magenta sticks protruding from the building are commonly used to determine bullet trajectories in crime scene investigations.
Platte County deputies lead Everett Conant III, left, from the courthouse to the jail at the nearby Platte County Sheriff's Department on Friday, July 8, 2011, in Wheatland, Wyo. During an initial appearance on Friday, Conant was charged with four counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted murder, aggravated battery and possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent in connection to a quadruple homicide at his residence on Thursday evening.
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Thursday, June 30, 2011
Edward Cullen, a City of Cheyenne employee, puts his arm up as he hops over a downed tree limb on Thursday, June 30, 2011, along House Avenue between Sixth and Seventh streets on the city's southeast side. Cheyenne spent part of the evening under a severe thunderstorm warning as rain and high winds swept across the area.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011
An editor grabbed me this morning to tell me that there was a truck rolled over in downtown Cheyenne. I immediately thought it must be a mistake. The speed downtown is 20 miles per hour. Sure enough, I showed up about the same time as the police to see that a full size Chevy pick up had rolled completely upside down. I’m interested to read the police report later to see how it happened.
Cheyenne police investigate the scene of a rollover accident on Tuesday, April 19, 2011, in downtown Cheyenne. The truck rolled over and came to a rest on Central Avenue south of Lincolnway.
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Saturday, April 2, 2011
Laramie County fire fighters work to extinguish a few hotspots after a brush fire on Friday, April 1, 2011, in a field near County Road 128 north of Cheyenne. The fire burned several acres of land before fire fighters brought it under control.
Laramie County fire fighters work to extinguish a few hotspots after a brush fire on Friday, April 1, 2011, in a field near County Road 128 north of Cheyenne. The fire burned several acres of land before fire fighters brought it under control.
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Friday, April 1, 2011
One thing I have quickly learned in Wyoming: it’s very windy here. I don’t mean breezy. I mean hurricane-force winds windy. I photographed an example of this on Thursday when wind gusts in the neighborhood of 57 mph flipped a semi truck along Interstate 25 between Cheyenne, Wyo. and the Colorado state line. When I got out of my truck to take a photo of the wreck, I was nearly swept into oncoming traffic by the winds.
Laramie County firefighters survey the scene of a tractor-trailer rollover Thursday near mile marker 2.5 along Interstate 25 south of Cheyenne. The Wyoming Department of Transportation's Traffic Management Center measured winds at speeds close to 57 mph at the time of the crash, police said. Police cited the driver, who was not hurt in the crash, for careless driving. I-25 from Cheyenne to the Colorado/Wyoming border also was closed in both directions to high-profile lightweight vehicles during part of the day Thursday.
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