Today we’d like to introduce you to John Burgdorf.
Thanks for sharing your story with us John. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a high schooler, I saved up money to buy a police scanner because I thought it would be cool to hear what was happening in my community. This was also during 2008 – 2009 when the popularity of social media was really growing. I decided to start posting some of the things I was hearing – such as house fires and police chases – on my personal Facebook to alert friends and family.
I realized there was so much interest and curiosity that I launched a Facebook page in 2010 dedicated to informing people across the DFW Metroplex of these events. Today, we have grown to over 750,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter, a go-to mobile app, and blog reaching millions of people across North Texas every month. DFW Scanner has grown from a personal hobby into one of the leading digital news sources in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
About a year after starting DFW Scanner, I moved down to College Station, TX to attend Texas A&M University. Luckily we had a number of folks who had already joined the DFW Scanner team and were willing to help out while I was away. I was still able to stay a large part of the group thanks to online scanning resources and connections I made before I left. It was tough, but I learned to adapt and our mission still thrives.
Please tell us about DFW Scanner.
We are known as the go-to for Fire/EMS and Police incidents in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. People know where to look for information when they are stuck in traffic, observe smoke, or hear sirens in their neighborhood. The news media does not focus too often on house fires or other hyper-local situations, and these are the events that people want to know about. And since we are hearing these incidents as they happen, we are able to bring people the information much quicker than traditional news outlets.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite childhood memories occurred on an Easter Sunday in the late 1990’s (I don’t recall the date). As my family left for church, we heard a popping sound from the electric wires connected to our house. There was no fire, but it was still a concern, so we called the Arlington Fire Department.
They responded, took care of the situation, and even let my younger brother and I look at the big red fire truck and autograph a toy fire truck that we had. Today, outside of DFW Scanner, I work for a company that sells and services fire apparatus, and my younger brother is a professional firefighter with Arlington FD.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dfwscanner.net
- Email: john@dfwscanner.net
- Instagram: instagram.com/dfwscanner
- Facebook: facebook.com/dfwscanner
- Twitter: twitter.com/dfwscanner
- Other: www.dfwscanner.net
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