Wednesday, June 17, 2025 Issue #107 ​

From Dubois County

Hey Reader,

This fall, I am participating in the Citizens Academy, hosted by the Huntingburg Fire Department.

Chief Donnie Heim is promising an exciting and informative program in which a group of about a dozen citizens will have the opportunity to do everything a local firefighter does.

I plan to make it into a feature story — immersive journalism.

I do have a little experience with fighting fires. We learned a bit about firefighting in boot camp, but I never really put those skills into practice until I was stationed in Naples, Italy.

I was a military police officer there; we called them security police, though. In addition to base security, we also handled a lot of criminal cases.

One night, I got called to a break-in at a residence. While I was there, talking to the homeowner and inspecting the damage to the home, I smelled smoke. We followed the smell into a bedroom where we found the top of the mattress smoldering. Flames were just starting to take off.

The homeowner and I rushed into the kitchen to get some tap water when I spied a case of carbonated water — a common drink in Europe. Grabbing two of the one-liter bottles, I shook them as I ran back to the bedroom, where I popped the top on one and quickly extinguished the flames. I then doused it with the second one to ensure it didn't reignite.

In another occurrence, I encountered a fire while patrolling our new barracks. Walking along the third-floor balcony hall, I saw some flames licking up from the middle of the top of a palm tree. A row of them had been planted as part of the new landscaping at the barracks.

I grabbed a fire extinguisher and quickly put out the fire that appeared to have started from a cigarette being thrown into the middle of the tree's "trunk" where the fronds met.

I look forward to expanding my repertoire of firefighting skills and sharing it with you this fall.

From Dubois County with love.

Matthew and Amy Crane

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By the way, you can add your event and see all the great things in the community on our community calendar. See it here.​

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​Bob Hyde, 90, Evansville​

​Marie Olivia Kern Obermeier, 93 Fulda​

​Carol Therese Miller, 82, Vermont​

​Streicher Construction seeking Construction Workers and General Laborers​

​Indiana Furniture seeking Order Processing Representative​

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Check out all the job opportunities by clicking here: Employment​

Contact Amy at amy@duboiscountyfreepress.com or 812-639-9650 if you would like to list openings on our website.​

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