California news stringer Matthew Frank killed in fiery overnight crash on way to cover fire
Click here for KSBY-TV story on Matthew Frank
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I had never met Matthew Frank but STATter911.com has featured a number of his videos over the last two years. Most recently, the video below from February. Frank was known as SLOStringer and covered spot news in the San Luis Obispo, California area.
Matthew Frank died around 4:00 yesterday (Tuesday) morning when his Tahoe rolled off the shoulder of a wet Highway 101, hit a tree and caught fire. Frank’s mother said her only child was heading to a structure fire in Atascadero. Matthew Frank was 30-years-old.
“It was his passion. He loved doing it. The troops out there really liked interacting with Matt out there. They enjoyed his company. They liked his reporting,” said Chief Steve Spinharney of CAL FIRE San Luis Obispo.
Morro Bay Fire Chief Steve Knuckles said he just met with Frank on Monday when he dropped off some of his SLOStringer photographs of fire crews.
“He was humble, he was polite, he was genuine every time I met him or talked to him. I asked him why he was doing this and he said, ‘I see a need,'” Knuckles said.
“I and my crews had been out all night long, the next morning everyone was spent and were rolling hose heading back in service, he shows up with breakfast burritos for everybody. (He was) so uncharacteristically kind, actually characteristic of who he was,” added Chief Garret Olson of the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department.
