The 49 Fire that destroyed 63 homes and businesses not only challenged emergency personnel, but it hit at the core of our staff at the Auburn Journal as well.

Many of those affected are personal friends and neighbors. Telling their stories this week, and working with fire fighters, evacuation center personnel, veterinarians, ordinary residents wanting to help and myriad others has been an emotional version of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

“It’s been one of the most intense and hectic weeks I have ever had in three years as a reporter,” said Journal staff writer Jenifer Gee. “It’s certainly been one of the most emotional. Seeing an entire neighborhood destroyed affects you. It makes us feel really sad for those who have lost everything they owned.”

When the blaze ignited Sunday, Gee rushed to work on her day off, as did photographer Michael Kirby.

Weekend Editor Gloria Young had the latest breaking news about the fire on Auburnjournal.com quickly.

Our Web traffic exploded. With a small but dedicated staff, we have tried to constantly give our readers access to the latest information available through our Web site.

“Many families from out of state were using the comments feature on Auburnjournal.com to check on the welfare of their loved ones,” said Stephanie Breitbart, Journal online content producer. “The first breaking news story on the fire Aug. 30 drew massive attention. That story was updated throughout the evening and by 11 p.m. there were already 10,000 views and 80 comments.”

Readers began posting their own fire photos and stories on the MyAuburn side of Auburnjournal.com as well.

Of the thousands of online readers, many had pertinent pictures and opinions from the burn zone, which they posted themselves or e-mailed into the newsroom. As of today, the original 49 Fire story is the most read story in the history of Auburnjournal.com.

In a small town, it sometimes feels crazy covering a huge news story because it seems like everybody knows everyone else.

On Sunday afternoon shortly after the fire ignited, my own wife and daughters were at TJ Enterprises, an upscale auto body repair shop, owned by our friends TJ and Emma Jackson. My family was literally fighting the fire with garden hoses while I was in the Journal offices leading our coverage.

On Monday, News Editor Michelle Miller-Carl began updating our fire coverage online every nine minutes. It was hectic. The newsroom was feeding her information, and we had reporters and photographers in the burn zone, including Gus Thomson, Penne Usher and Ben Furtado.

I pushed as hard as I could to get our stories and photos published quickly, and to have them be as meaningful and accurate as possible, given the changing nature of the fire.

Our emotions were raw and the newsroom was a sometimes-pressure-packed place. We had several closed-door meetings in my office in which our staff was asked to work even harder. We bent, but we didn’t break.

Every day we filled the Journal with breaking fire stories and pictures. The feature photos and news stories we had already planned for this week’s editions were held. There was no more important story, and we were on it minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour.

Just from Sunday to Thursday we published seven staff photo galleries, 26 staff-written stories and numerous letters to the editor about the fire. We also created a gallery of photos submitted to the Journal by readers that drew thousands of hits online. And we are not even close to being done.

Community First, Granite Community and other local banks have established funds for disaster relief. The Salvation Army and Red Cross, along with many churches, have opened their arms, doors and hearts to fire victims.

Dozens of service clubs, individuals and businesses have offered help and support. We added a new page daily in the Journal and online, devoted to the growing list of efforts to help — at 75 and growing.

Those who lost their homes and precious pets, those fighting the fire and those helping to heal the many wounds inflicted all have stories to tell. We plan to tell those stories. We also will closely monitor the progress of the fire investigation, an investigation we are trying to help solve.

It’s a new world in journalism, and citizen journalists’ efforts are truly valued by the media and by investigators like Battalion Chief Bill Mendonca, who is leading the 49 Fire investigation.

We asked readers to send us their earliest fire photos, especially those showing the area around a power pole near Rock Creek Road and Highway 49, where the blaze began. Readers like Lori Gerkhardt, Gerry Claflin, Art Fuller and dozens more have posted vital photos and comments on Auburnjournal.com that are aiding in the investigation.

The Auburn Journal will be here for the long run, showing victims where to find services and connecting those in need to those wanting to help.

We are also greatly affected by this tragedy as members of this community, and we plan to do our part to aid the healing in the days, weeks, months and even years ahead.

This is our community as well as yours.

Together we can slowly move toward recovering from this tragedy, and learning from the life lessons it has to offer.