An emergency services photographer well known on the Central California coast was killed early Tuesday morning when his vehicle crashed as he was en route to a two alarm structure fire. Known on Twitter as @SLOStringer, Matthew Frank was dedicated to covering wildland and structure fires in California.
Most people did not know his name and referred to him only by his Twitter handle or his first name, Matt. The accident happened hours before he was scheduled to speak at a firefighter recognition banquet in San Luis Obispo Tuesday night.
It was raining at 4 a.m. when Mr. Frank’s 2009 Chevy Tahoe went off Highway 101, rolled, hit a tree, and caught fire. The 30-year old photographer was killed at the scene.
I have been an admirer of his work and on several occasions asked and received permission from him to use his photos on Wildfire Today, for example, when he covered the Valley and Butte Fires.
Below is an excerpt from an article published March 21, 2017 at The Tribune in which his father, Steven Frank, was talking about when his son covered the Chimney Fire last August near the Hearst Castle in central California.
…The highlight of Matthew’s life, his father said, was covering the Chimney Fire last summer.
During the fire, Matthew heard from people who had been evacuated and had left things like their pets or prescription medications behind. Matthew, his father said, would use his credentials to get to those people’s houses and bring them their medication and take care of their pets.
“He was working 18 hours a day between Hearst Castle and what was going on at Nacimiento, but for two weeks he was in his heyday,” Steven Frank said.
Mr. Frank died doing what he loved. Our sincere condolences go out to his family, friends, and co-workers.
Very sorry to read of Mathew (SLOStringer)s passing. I began following his work after he posted a remarkable slow motion video of a drop I made from a Huey. I have followed his postings ever since.