It seems so many people have a fear of public speaking. But imagine giving that dreaded speech amid wind gusting to 60 to 70 miles per hour, thick smoke, falling ash and a chaotic situation unfolding around you. That's basically my role when reporting on our local wildfires.

This year's fire season has already provided some challenges -- and I'm certain with the hottest months still ahead, there's more obstacles to come. So far, one of the most difficult fires to cover was one of the smallest in size -- the blaze near Quilici Lane.

The fire was started when high wind uncovered some ashes from a recent legal burn, according to the Reno Fire Department. The fire burned about two acres of brush and destroyed an unoccupied house. The wind was so significant on April 14, the KOLO assignment desk asked me to grab a camera and shoot some of the damage around town -- many viewers will remember the huge trees that toppled. I was out surveying damage when the call about the fire came in.

I immediately drove to a road that was mentioned on the scanner -- Johnson Lane. When I arrived, I was greeted by heavy, blowing smoke -- it was so thick, at times, it was difficult to distinguish the firefighters attacking the blaze. The wind was blowing the smoke right in my direction. Since I came directly from another assignment, I was wearing a suit instead of my usual fire-resistant clothing -- for safety reasons, I stayed back from the blaze to shoot some video.

I met up with a photographer and the live truck, and when the clock struck 6:30 it was time to go live. Evidently I had inhaled a lot of smoke, because when I was delivering my report I could barely maintain my voice. That was made all the more difficult because I ran to the truck to make the shot, then could hardly catch my breath in wind gusting to about 60 miles per hour. The gusts were so strong, it slammed a car door on me, and knocked firefighters from their footing.

Losing my voice was only one of the barriers to getting the story. Right before going live, I had to wipe tears from my eyes, caused by the smoke. I even had to scrape black flecks from the corners of my eyes and mouth -- I'm still not sure I got it all off before going live. What you didn't hear on television is that I was finding those black flecks in my ear for the next two days!

The live shot got the information out there to the public, but my voice was horrible, and the wind made me look awfully disheveled. I was surprised when some of my colleagues told me how great they thought I did the next day! They thought that live shot was especially authentic. Looking back, it did give viewers a taste of the extreme conditions journalists sometimes face covering wildfires.

Oh, and one other little-known factoid -- whenever covering a wildfire I end up smelling of smoke for the entire day. That goes for my clothing too. If anyone knows a good dry-cleaner, I'd love to hear from you -- I think I'll need it this summer.