We lifted off the pad and as soon as I turned southeast I could see the smoke pretty well.

We were the first media helicopter on scene. I noticed more smoke than flames and firefighters arriving on scene. Shortly after we arrived, the flames started to overtake the apartment. The wind was clipping along at about 10-15 knots (about 20 mph). You could see this was feeding these flames as they grew bigger and bigger. (Click here to watch raw video from the helicopter)

We broke into programming on WCNC feeding live pictures about five minutes after we arrived.

After we returned to the station, I thought I was done for the day. But I was wrong. My phone rang around 3:50 p.m. and our desk launched us to a pursuit just north of Charlotte.

After I obtained our ATC clearance off our studio pad, I made contact with the police helicopter “Snoopy 1”. I soon saw a red truck speeding down Graham Street with Snoopy 1 overhead.

My photographer extraordinaire Scott, found the truck as soon as I did and started following him with our FLIR camera. The truck made its way from Graham over to Tryon and started driving north. I’ve got to hand it to Scott. I was turning pretty hard, trying to keep up with the suspects erratic driving and Scott was rock solid staying with the driver the entire time.

We followed the truck as it side swiped numerous cars and traveled the wrong way down several streets. We broke into programming for the second time today for breaking news. I was giving commentary on what I was seeing from the air. (Click here to watch live coverage of the chase)

The truck made its way onto I-485 where an officer waiting on the side of the road through stop sticks out underneath his truck, which flattened the front right tire. The driver realized this and got onto the exit to University City Boulevard. The truck made a wide right turn ending up on southbound University City Boulevard. The truck, with the flat tire, couldn’t make the turn. The truck ended up in the median and police moved in to make the arrest with no resistance.

Just to give you an idea what it’s like in my position as the pilot, my number ONE priority is flying the helicopter. Ten minutes into this chase it was just me (AirStar) and Snoopy1, the police helicopter. The police helicopter always fly's at 1200 feet AGL (above ground level) so I picked 500 feet above him since I arrived first on scene. This way I can always keep an eye on him and stay out of his way.

Later the CBS and ABC affiliate helicopters arrive and they stayed 500 feet above me. So the workload goes up and I have to maintain visual with three helicopters, talk to ATC, keep up with the chase and report. So I guess you could say I multi-task.