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Deadly pileup on Interstate 94 near Michigan City, Indiana

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.

Michigan City I-94 Crash — 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)

Plane crash in South Bend

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.

Plane Crash Investigation — 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)

Fire at former RMG Foundry in Mishawaka

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.

RMG Foundry Fire — 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)

Blowing in the wind

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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One hail of a night

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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