January 8, 2003, I was covering a lumberyard fire in Morristown, NJ when I hear I heard the sound of steps on a metal fire escape. It was Morristown Firefighter, Fred Richardson as he rescued a little girl’s angel fish from an apartment that was next to a burning abandoned lumber yard.
This image was the only one out of forty I had shot where the fish was clearly visible & the water was splashing out of the aquarium.
Sixteen years later, by chance, I met retired Morristown firefighter Fred Richardson at 70South Gallery holding a framed photo I shot of him exactly twenty years ago today. One of the owners of the gallery knew I was hanging out at Smartworld coffee shop next door and heard Fred talking about the photo that appeared in the Daily Record. She stopped in and said, “there’s a firefighter next door who just picked up a frame and I think it’s your photo.”
I walked over and saw Fred holding a shopping bag and asked if I could see the photo. It was this photo, already one of the most memorable of my career. We talked for a while about that freezing cold morning and of course his rescue that day. I was honored and flattered when Fred asked me to sign his print. A moment I’ll never forget.
Just another reason why local news matters.