There are times I run into people around town that want to know what I do working the weekend overnight shift at KKTV.  Many would think that I play marathon games of Solitaire on the computer, but truth is, I really don’t have time for that.

My typical shift begins at 11 p.m. and ends somewhere after 9 a.m.  In those hours, I monitor scanners covering Colorado Springs police and fire departments and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. I also listen in on Pueblo and the Colorado State Patrol.  I find myself, many times, driving out to what may sound like a big deal, only to end up turning around and heading back to the station because of a false alarm.

The night of November 6^th was much like that. There were several calls reporting drive by shootings or something that sounded like gunfire. I was on my way to a reported shooting at a Subway Shop on B Street when the first call for a large structure fire rang out on the scanners.  I was already at South Circle Drive near the World Arena when a second call for the same fire flashed across the scanners. I was less than 3 miles from the location and was able to divert quickly.  I drove over the hill from E. Cheyenne Meadows and could see flames shooting up about 50 feet in the air. I got to the location of the fire shortly after that and one of the ladder trucks pulled up behind the building on fire. I rushed into a location where I could watch everything unfold and was able to capture a second fire truck arriving on scene.  The rest is, as they say, history.  You can see all my footage on KKTV.com.

James Egbert, photographer