WBOC Reports Fire 24 Hours Later

"Written by Kye Parsons
Mardela Springs Family Displaced by Fire

01/01/2009 12:30 PM ET

MARDELA SPRINGS, Md.- A smoldering cigarette appears to be the cause of a New Year's Eve fire that left a Mardela Springs family homeless, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.

The fire was reported shortly before 1 p.m. at a one-story home on Sharptown Road. It took 20 firefighters from the Mardela Springs, Sharptown and Hebron fire companies about 10 minutes to get the blaze under control.

The fire cause an estimated $100,000 in damage to the home and an additional $20,000 in damage to its contents. There were no reported injuries.

Investigators say the fire started when a sofa in the living room erupted in flames. They also ruled the fire accidental as the result of discarded smoking materials.

The family was displaced as a result of the fire and are being assisted by family members. A family dog perished in the blaze."

Remember the Breaking News story we produced about this fire yesterday? We broke that story HERE at 1:14 PM. The story finally hit WBOC today but here's what I found interesting about it. It was delivered to WBOC by the Fire Marshal's Office for starters. They read it here on Salisbury News and rather than going to the scene they contacted the Fire Marshal and got whatever details they needed to make it look like they were delivering their viewers something.

Then I also noticed a couple of other things that bothered me. There are other people out there, (MICHAEL) who are constantly talking about having a degree in journalism and how these people are professionals at telling the news. OK, if this is the case, why do they say no one was injured, yet one dog died and the other was rushed to the Veterinary Hospital in an Ambulance? Professionals! Why weren't they on the scene?

I mean, look at it like this. Before Salisbury News they used to have to get off their tails, (and I mean all the MSM) and go to these scenes and cover the news. Now all they have to do is sit at a desk and wait for the non college educated Blogger without a degree in journalism deliver the news and then they just call the Fire Marshal a day later. Then they go and charge all their sponsors for advertising with commercials on the show for information already produced by us for FREE 24 hours earlier.

So I say to those nay sayers of Salisbury News, how do you explain all of this? How do we lay it out there for them and yet they still get it wrong? I'll tell you why Michael. Because they're NOT professionals out there on the street looking and digging for stories on their own. They got it wrong because they ONLY contacted the Fire Marshal and not the Fire Department or the Family who's home was severely damaged.

Does WBOC actually think that their viewers don't care about the animals harmed or killed in these fires? I'd even go so far as to say my guess would be that at least 80% of their viewers own an animal and do care about them as well. So, if they're so professional, how can they say no one was injured?

Being that it's a slow day today for news, they also waited almost a full 24 hours after the fire actually happened and almost 24 hours after Salisbury News broke the story before the shared their own version of the story. WBOC is starting to look more and more like the Daily Times every day.

WE at Salisbury News do feel for these animals as well as the family displaced by this fire and if there's anything WE can do to help this Family please don't hesitate to contact us. This is 2009 and as Americans interested in helping the less fortunate and rebuilding America, we want to help in any way we can. Forgive me for speaking for all of our readers here but I'm sure they would want to help too.