SAN DIEGO -- KGTV/San Diego's 10 efforts in providing continuous news coverage and reporting from the front lines during the worst fires in California history last October have earned the station a national award.

KGTV is pleased to announce that the Society of Professional Journalists has awarded the station with a 2003 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Journalism. KGTV has won the national award for its breaking news coverage during "Firestorm 2003."

The entry KGTV submitted to SPJ focused on KGTV's continuous live coverage of the fires and the station's relief efforts with Firestorm Relief 2003 that raised nearly $2.3 million dollars in cash and in-kind donations.

The award winning entry also included the chronicling of one family's losses in the San Diego County fires in a news diary.

"I know how hard the station staff worked to provide the best coverage of the devastating October fires and it is extremely gratifying to have our efforts judged to be the best by our peers, particularly on a national level," News Director Mike Stutz said.

The award will be presented in July at a banquet at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.