The Indiana Publisher

Page 7 January 2021 Kim Dunlap Kokomo Tribune Firefighters with the Kokomo Fire Department spent several hours early-Tuesday Jan. 5 working to contain a fire that broke out at the Kokomo Tribune offices, at the intersec- tion of Union and Mulberry streets. According to fire officials, first responders were dispatched to the area around 3:50 a.m., in reference to heavy smoke coming from the building, and crews eventually left the scene around 10 a.m. A fire report was not yet completed as of late-afternoon on Jan. 5 due to compiling of all the information needed for the investigation, but KFD Fire Inspector Glenda Myers said the smoke and water damage is extensive throughout the build- ing, though she did not indicate whether she believed the build- ing is a total loss at this point. "I would say it [damage] is major, because they had to put a lot of water on it," she said. "I haven't compiled all that information, and we don't have reports on it or anything, but the basement's full." Officials also said firefight- ers faced several initial obsta- cles when putting out the fire — which was mostly contained to the east side of the building. "There were no flames exposed to the firefighters until they knocked the wall down," Myers said, referring to first responders having to use an excavator to tear down an exte- rior eastern wall. "And then that's when it got enough oxy- gen to it to ignite it enough for them [firefighters] to see. That's the initial difficulty when you can't find it or chase it down. "They [flames] weren't exposing themselves," she added. "And then there's also ventilation. It's hard for us to ventilate a block building with- out taking out some windows or things of that nature. … There's also false ceilings, anything suspended like that, it'll spread right through that. So we were just chasing all those things." But Myers did say once firefighters were able to enter the area of the structure that appeared to be where the flames were coming from, they were able to quickly extinguish the blaze. The fire also caused authori- ties to cut electricity to that section of Union Street, and a couple apartments nearby were also evacuated out of abun- dance of caution. The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library across the street from the Tribune was also closed the morning of Jan. 5, but employees there said the building was re-opened around 1 p.m. that afternoon. The cause of the fire and its origin inside the building is cur- rently under investigation. Firemen spend several hours fighting blaze at Kokomo Tribune Kokomo firefighters battle a fire at the Kokomo Tribune that started about 3:45 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. Staff photo by Tim Bath Any child or grandchild of an HSPA member news- paper employee or indepen- dent contractor is invited to apply for an annual Legacy Scholarship offered by the HSPA Foundation. There are two $1,000 awards available. The scholarship program was launched in 2018. Since then, the winning students have pursued a range of inter- ests from environmental biol- ogy to nursing to engineering. Last year's recipients were Ella Miller and Elle O'Bannon. Ella is the granddaughter of Mark Miller who served in a vast range of roles dur- ing his 45-year career at the Bluffton News-Banner including president, publisher, editor, ad sales, ad manager, general manager and opinion page editor. Miller serves as com- mittee chair for the Legacy Scholarship and is an HSPA Foundation board member. He emphasized that while the program is offered as a way to support Indiana newspaper staffers and their families, student applicants can be pur- suing any area of study – not just journalism – at any col- lege, university or vocational school. Part of the application involves students writing an essay to discuss their goals. Ella graduated from Carroll High School and was accepted at Anderson University to study music education "With music education, I'll not only stay connected to my passion, but I'll get to share it with others, and that's very important to me," Ella said in her application. The other 2020 recipi- ent, Elle O'Bannon, gradu- ated from Our Lady of Providence High School and aimed to study busi- ness management/law and ethics in the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington. In her application, Elle said she is eyeing becoming a lawyer or judge. "I want to go where I can do the most good," Elle said. For more information and this year's application, see pages 14-16. Deadline March 26 to apply for $1,000 Legacy Scholarship

• Cover