Just because something is a big deal to someone doesn't mean it's always a big news story.

This may seem odd, even unfair, but it makes sense once you've reported for a while.

Everyone has stories that are immensely important to them, and often those stories are interesting, but there simply isn't space or time to cover all of them.

As I write this, the CHP is listing one traffic accident, for example. I'm sure that accident was a big deal to the people involved.

Generally, we only cover traffic accidents when someone is seriously injured or killed, or if it causes a really serious traffic jam.

I get calls frequently from people who ask me why the horrible accident they saw wasn't in the paper, and that's usually why: (thankfully) the crash didn't make the cut. I don't blame them. I would probably call myself, if I was in their place.

It's good to hear from readers because I'm often sitting in the office, and tips help me stay on top of the news.

But I digress.

Before I got distracted, I started writing this blog entry as an excuse to share this picture with you:

 

This photo, courtesy of the Ventura City Fire Department, shows firefighters putting out a fire that destroyed a motor home in Ventura on Wednesday.

As you can see, the fire was pretty dramatic. It totally destroyed the motor home, which was worth an estimated $30,000.

And it was a primary home for its owners, fire officials said in a statement.

That seems like a big deal to me, but it was only a brief in the paper. There was simply too much going on in the past week to look into it more.

In fact, with the tragic Metrolink crash, even a quintuple fatal crash near Fillmore got very limited attention.