Why do I feel so bad after doing a stellar job?

9 out of 10 times, the juices are flowing and there are high fives at the end of the night after kicking some major butt.

Tonight, we excelled at our craft from start to finish and hit a home run out of the ballpark.

Then, why do I feel so bad?

Maybe because a number of people just lost their lives.

This is the one downfall, 'collateral damage' so to speak about being an assignment editor.

Here's how it unfolded.

The call came over the scanner for a confirmed working fire on Clark Avenue in Cleveland.

Fires happen every single day. If they are not substantial, most of the time, I don't even send a crew.

But here, more rescue squads and fire units were requested to the scene.

I immediately rolled a camera man to the house. I also lucked out because one of my reporters, Mike O'Mara, and his crew Craig Roberson were in that area for their story.

This is why it is imperative to know where your crews are at all times.

I knew Mike O'Mara and his crew had an interview at Metro. I just did not know if they were still there.

I called Mike and told him I had at least 3 patients being transported to MetroHealth Medical Center after an extremely serious fire keeping my fingers crossed the whole time that they were still on site.

Yes they were. O'Mara and Roberson were just leaving Metro --they had to loop around and get in place, which is what they proceeded to do.

They took simply amazing, yet heart-breaking video at the hospital while Brian Johnson did the same at the Clark fire scene.

We had the video. I had the info from the Fire Chief and PIO as well as the Spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office.

I put the story on the web as soon as I dispatched my crews to the various scenes and kept updating it all night with the latest details.

Everything progressed perfectly and ultimately finished on a flawless note.

Except for the outcome of the breaking news, which ended tragically for the family, friends, and neighborhood.

I'm extremely proud of the teamwork, the quick action to change gears, to break the story and beat the competition hands down on all fronts.

However, working in the news business on an assignment desk calls for covering sad or disturbing stories at times.

This turned out to be one of the worst.