There was a shining example of team work at play at the Abergavenny Chronicle when the editorial and commercial sides of the paper joined forces to report on a major fire in the town.
The Chronicle website saw record numbers of people visit to follow live updates from the team on a blaze which caused damage to a landmark building.
Chief reporter Luke Williams was the first on the scene when a fire broke out in the historic town centre building and with an entire block of shops under threat from the uncontrollable fire he was soon joined by sales account manager Andrew Fowler who lives just a few hundred yards from the blaze.
With a cordon put in place by emergency services the duo operated from opposite sides of the burning block of buildings sending updates back to regional editor Liz Davies who co-ordinated the online coverage from a safe distance.
Together Luke and Andrew worked until the wee small hours with their live blog charting the course of the fire and in the process giving the Chronicle’s website its best ever figures for a single story.
Not only did they keep Abergavenny residents abreast of the progress of the blaze, which destroyed one of the town’s oldest and most recognisable buildings, but they also secured the first media interview with the owners of the charity shop in which the fire started.
“It was certainly exciting being inside the cordon and watching as firefighters from all over the area battled to bring the fire under control,” said Luke. “It wasn’t quite as exciting to be back at my desk at 8.30 the next morning to finishing putting the paper together,” he added.
For Andrew a night on the other side of the newspaper fence was a ‘great experience’, but not quite to tempt him to make the move a permanent one.
“It was interesting and a bit sad to be on the scene of a fire which has really affected the whole town and really enjoyed it but I think I’m happier getting my excitement from the thrill of a great sale,” he joked.