Mountain Lions and Tire Fires

Back in the day, when I was just a rookie lenslinger totin' the camera around, I had some pretty memorable stories with one reporter in particular. Lilla Marigza, an accomplished news veteran now working in her hometown of Nashville, could make the day go by like no other. For those in the country music meca, you know her as the cute little morning reporter who used to work at News 2. As the emergence of the "VJ" came into the fray at the ABC affiliate, Lilla found a nice out and made her way across the street to 4 News, the NBC affiliate. News 2's loss is WSMV's gain.

I worked with Lilla for a few years in Bowling Green, Kentucky at WBKO where we were both more than a little wet behind the ears. But, through our naivete came a passion for stories like none I've been able to duplicate. Oh sure, I still get fired up over the big stories and I love who I work with here. But there's something about that first gig that can't be found just anywhere.

There was the time we headed out of town on a suspect chase in Scottsville, KY. Some nut from Michigan driving a stolen car got into a pursuit, went off the road and crashed into a school late one night. We picked up the story early the next day and followed the sheriff's department around in the pouring rain until they picked up this creep. I remember the call coming across the scanner as Lilla held it up to my microphone, "suspect in custody, suspect is in custody." We did the 400 meter dash like we were still in high school and bagged "The Shot." Deputies had him in cuffs walking across this big field as I sprinted up to the gaggle of law enforcement and a scratched up criminal sans shirt. I fired off the usual, "why you'd run?" And, "did you think you'd get away?" He really didn't have much to say but the pictures of cops in the woods and one of them telling us, "he was up in a tree and the dogs was barking" made for TV greatness. We won the AP award that year for best spot news story.

And what about the time somebody was keeping a couple of mountain lions in their house! We went to the animal shelter to see this cat and found a quite tame little feline. Oh sure, they were indeed mountain lions but the shots of Lilla snuggling up with those cats are ones that will not soon leave my memory bank.








One also tried to take a bite out of crime.... or was it Lilla?





Not far removed from the rather odiferous mountain lion we were on a string of fires. One of which was a long-burning tire fire in Simpson County. It was not long after this we were tabbed "Stinky and The Other One" because we always came back smelling like the story. I'm not sure which of us was "Stinky" and which was "The Other One" but none-the-less, we were THE "A" TEAM.

Speaking of fires, our most well-known coverage no doubt came from a horrific fatal fire one night in Bowling Green. I'll never forget when I heard the alert tones going out over the scanner at about one in morning sending fire crews to the Howard Johnson on 31-W Bypass. I lived only minutes from the scene and was on location in time to see the bright red lights of fire engines arriving on scene. The January night cold mixed with snow gave a surreal feeling. What I saw over the next several hours I will not ever forget.

People pulled from the fire in steaming, smoking blankets, firefighters and EMS crews performing CPR and just absolute bedlam from the poor people trapped inside. I remember the 911 dispatcher desperately trying to direct firefighters to those trapped inside. Four people died in what soon would be discovered was an arson for hire scheme. We covered everything from the fire, to the hotel owners (who had similar fires in Nashville hotels), to the rather lengthy trial.
The trial was not an easy endeavor as it took place in Federal Court, a place where cameras or any recording equipment are not allowed. We tag-teamed the proceedings flawlessly, going live every day they were in court for 8 weeks. On the days Lilla was off I went live from the newsroom with the day's events. It all culminated with the conviction and life sentences for one of the hotel's owners, Suresh Kumar, and a maintenance man, Joe Logan.

We did the backwards tango in front of the two as they were transferred to the awaiting transportation to federal prison. Logan said nothing, but Kumar was more than willing to cry and say he didn't do it, only laying blame to a different maintenance man.

The fire and trial were also covered by the Discovery Channel on a show they aired called "Inferno." I still go back and watch that piece every once in while. That was probably seen by more people than any other video I've ever shot.

There was one other story we covered that touched me very deeply. I'll leave that for another day when I feel I can make it through. I will only say it involved a little girl named Morgan. Her favorite color was purple.

Lilla and I made quite a team, one that I'll never forget... even if the folks of south-central Kentucky have. After all, this WAS nearly a decade ago!