Thanks to social media anyone can be a journalist. Just ask Virginia woman Rhoda Young, who went the scene of a house fire and bravely documented the fire's wrath.
Young and her husband sped to the scene right as the fire began to spread to a nearby home. “I’m Rhoda Young, live on the scene,” she said, beginning her 54-minute Facebook Live stream.
When local news outlets failed to show up immediately, Young took matters into her own hands, instructing the firefighters on how they ought to put out the fire, explaining to first responders why power needed to be cut to the neighborhood, telling officials to block off the street and last but not least, investigating the fire.
And, believe it or not, Young did all this while cracking jokes and providing the kind of colorful commentary most talking heads could only dream of.
The amateur reporter began her investigation into the cause of the fire by talking to the tragedy's victim, Donald William Stricker III, who she met sipping PBR while watching his home burn.
Young quickly found out that Stricker was home when the fire started, and moved the camera closer so viewers could see how the flames had burned his hair and hands.
Like any reporter, Young hit Stricker with the tough questions, "Let me ask you this: how did it catch on fire?"
Stricker responded, "I don't know."
Young moves back to the house to let her viewers know that "the house is fully engorged," before excitedly turning her attention back to Stricker.
As she moves in for a closeup, Stricker puts up his hand, saying "Please stop."
"Don't hit me, cause I fight back. I love you," Young said.
Noticing that Stricker's pants were burnt as well as his hands, Young moved away from the scene and said "now I gotta figure out how the hell he started that damn fire.
She goes to the police to tell her that she's cracked the case, who tells her to "calm down a little bit, darling."
Not long after, Young shows Stricker being handcuffed, saying he "has allegedly been placed under arrest."
She then asks the officials to thank her for solving the case and reminds viewers and local television station WAVY-10 ("WAVY News 10, tune me in!" she shouts at one point) that she knew it all along.
Young has other live shots on her Facebook page, including a look at emergency services at a hospital. She also has cooking tutorials.
You can watch the highlights of the fire report below:
