For TV photojournalist William “Will” Caldwell, life’s highs and lows are sometimes too close for comfort.
Early on the morning of Labor Day, his home in Piscataway was severely damaged by a fast-moving fire that destroyed all of his family’s belongings, even his late wife’s jewelry that would be passed down to his two daughters.
“After taking in so many families sitting on their lawns with the Red Cross blankets around them and now having the exact same Red Cross blanket draped around my family and myself, it was such a surreal moment. It’s so “a way to know the pain of another person or another family,” Caldwell said.
And then on October 26, Caldwell received a prestigious award, his first New York Emmy Award, for his work for NBC 4 New York/WNBC on breaking news: a helicopter water rescue of a Clifton firefighter from the New Jersey State Police on June 28. 2023, with reporter Checkey Beckford.
“It was very emotional because of everything I’ve been through. It was almost like the universe was saying this was for you. It’s all going to be okay. There was a light in such a dark area,” Caldwell said.
NBC 4 New York reporter Checkey Beckford and videojournalist Will Caldwell recently received a New York Emmy Award for their reporting on the rescue of a Clifton firefighter.
During his acceptance speech, Caldwell thanked his family, his NBC family and Beckford, whom he called “an amazing talent.”
“And thank God I could be here. I’ve had a rough few weeks,” said Caldwell, who became emotional during the speech.
“In my mind, I literally wanted to thank everyone for everything they did for my family because a large percentage of that room made donations to GoFundMe whether they knew me or not,” said Caldwell, who couldn’t get the words out . that moment. But I pray and I hope they understand that I can never express how incredibly grateful I am to everyone from day one.
“I don’t think it (the award) would have felt the same if the events before that day hadn’t happened. I’m not saying I would have taken it for granted, but I don’t think I would have appreciated how much I also appreciated it that day because of everything that happened,” he said.
Beckford, who got stuck in traffic on the way to the ceremony and missed their award presentation, wrote on social media that “Will deserved this moment.”
“We reporters are always in front of the camera, while photojournalists like Will physically carry the heavy equipment and take close-ups, often of tragedy. Will, a devoted single father of two teenage girls, lost his home in a fire last month and walked injuries while returning to the burning building to save his daughters’ dog. No, we’re not immune to bad things happening. His first Emmy win couldn’t have come at a better time! “
Caldwell, who spent seven years at NBC 4 New York after working for News12 New Jersey, never expected to receive an Emmy.
“I always said that if I ever received an Emmy, it would be this way, something where I just did my job the way I do it every night. It was a circumstance. I just happened to be there with a camera, and this is just how we did it because it was never something I aspired to. I always just wanted to do a good job and whatever came out of that was just the icing on the cake,” he said.
Self-taught photojournalist
Caldwell’s path to the Emmy was not a straight path.
He grew up in Newark’s North Ward and East Orange, graduated from Clifford Scott High School in East Orange and enrolled at Upsala College before deciding to enlist in the Army Reserves, where he spent six years. He then got a job in the carpeting department of the Rickel Home Center and Channel Home Center stores, while also becoming an EMT and taking information technology courses.
He then fell in love with B&H Photo Video Electronics and Camera in New York City, where he attended videography seminars.
“I didn’t go to school to do this at all. I did this all self-taught. I was just in love with video and producing,” said Caldwell, who followed a couple who made wedding videos and later started his own company.
A friend who worked at News12 New Jersey mentioned Caldwell to the station’s chief photojournalist, Matt Pantaleno, because of his knowledge of the software they use. Although he didn’t want to work for a news station, he stayed there for five years.
Pantaleno moved to NBC, initially in Philadelphia and later to New York City, and rehired Caldwell.
“At the time, unknown to anyone, my wife was suffering from ovarian cancer and the reason I was so hesitant to take the job at NBC was because I didn’t want to tell anyone that this was happening just because I was trying to limit my boundaries.” personal life and what I make public,” Caldwell said.
However, one mentor highlighted the opportunity to work for the network and how it would put his family in a better position.
The fire
Caldwell and his late wife lived in Edison before moving to Piscataway several years ago, and on Labor Day he was at the house with his partner, her cousin visiting from Florida and his two daughters.
Their vacation plans included a visit to New York City, but the night before they had hung out on the back deck of the house, eating, laughing and joking before turning off all electrical appliances outside and going to bed.
Around 5 a.m., the cousin, who was sleeping downstairs on an air mattress, ran upstairs and started banging on his bedroom door and when he opened it, Caldwell saw flames coming from the back deck.
The remains of Will Caldwell’s Piscataway home after a fire on Labor Day
He calls the cousin the hero who saved his family.
Caldwell knocked on his daughter’s door and told them to leave the house.
The family dog, Whiskey, ran back to the bedroom, his usual safe place, and Caldwell went to get the dog, thinking the fire was far enough away that it would be safe to run through a cloud of smoke to the front door.
But once the front door opened, it drew in smoke and heat from the back deck, burning Caldwell’s face.
“When I got outside, I felt my face tingling, but nothing started blistering until about an hour into the day. It happened so quickly,” said Caldwell, who watched the fast-moving fire spread from the back deck. to the front of the house in about 30 minutes.
Caldwell, who has covered hundreds of fires, knew that when you hear the windows breaking, there’s nothing left.
“You’re processing everything, and you’re also trying to manage the emotions of your family and friends, and your neighbors are asking you a thousand questions.” he said.
Friendliness
Caldwell is overwhelmed by the support he has received.
He said the people in his life, including neighbors, co-workers, his tri-state family in New York and reporters from other stations, have reached out to him and made donations to his family’s GoFundMe page.
He said a neighbor he was going to greet while shoveling snow came up to him, gave him a hug and handed him an envelope.
“I don’t think I’ve cried that much. We were sitting on my lawn with no shoes on and my partner is sitting there crisscrossed and there was a young lady who was jogging, she was visiting her parents from out of town. She said what size shoe are you wearing. She took off her sneakers and said I just bought these and please take these. I was shocked at how many people I had to thank for that.”
He said reporter Marc Santia and photojournalist Katie Barry knew his daughter had lost her piano and trumpet in the fire, and they came to the hotel the day after the fire to give her a trumpet to take to school.
“More than money, things like that mean a lot to me. She plays all the time, that’s what she does. For Marc to step in and say, ‘Don’t get anything, I’ve got you,’ just meant the world to me.” Caldwell said.
The interior of Will Caldwell’s Piscataway home after a fire on Labor Day
His supervisor Martha Jaimes, director of field operations, and Dave Alter, field operations manager, checked on him every day. A fellow videojournalist came to the hotel and brought him clothes, and photojournalist Nelson Xon took Caldwell’s family for breakfast.
“You can sense that people are genuinely concerned and caring. I really felt like these were friends visiting a friend’s house. It’s our nature as journalists to be curious, to get information and to dig, but I felt like these were more friends and colleagues I’m just dropping by to see how we’re doing, what we need and how we can help,” he said. “These are just incredible people with a tremendous amount of kindness.”
Although the preliminary cause of the fire is unknown, a neighbor’s camera captured video of a small fire that started before it spread.
A tree hanging above the deck caught fire and the flames spread. His insurance company put the family in a hotel for two weeks and put him in touch with a real estate agent who found the family a townhouse in his daughter’s school district. He is still trying to raise enough money to rebuild his house.
Caldwell sees the Emmy as the starting point for rebuilding his life.
“It’s a chance to start over. It’s a good win for my family. My whole family was so proud. I stand on so many shoulders. I didn’t win that award alone. There were so many people who believed in me,” said Caldwell, who credits his late wife with pushing him to start his own business after seeing his passion for videography.
“I really feel like this is just the universe and God’s way of saying everything will be okay, everything will be fine. Everything that was important was saved on that day, everything else is things that can be replaced” , he said.
“I had jewelry that my late wife gave me to give to our daughters, they’re gone. Those are the things I cry about. Those are things their mother wanted them to have and now they’re gone, but I would think Their mother would trade all that stuff to still have her daughters here, so I have to consider that a huge victory,” he said.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Piscataway NJ man wins NY Emmy after house destroyed by fire
