The new High Definition news set caught fire minutes before the 11pm broadcast last night. The fire apparently started by a transformer behind the set. See the full story below.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5345032

David

From WABC.com

(New York- WABC, May 28, 2007) - A fire in the Eyewitness News studio knocked WABC off the air for two hours last night. After a lot of work overnight, we are back on the air.

Last night, a few minutes from our 11:00 p.m. broadcast, the anchors were on set, the stage crew was in place, when suddenly, back behind the set, they heard a loud pop, then, fire.

The fire broke out in Channel 7's main studio before the late newscast, as an electrical malfunction set fire to a large stage.

"We noticed a flame of about 4 to 5-feet high. We alerted everybody that there was fire. And within 30 seconds, it had gone right up to the ceiling and started curving over the roof," said stage manager Smith Sumroy

There was no question, everyone had to get out right away.

Cameraman Lou Torellas said, "As soon as and we said we got a fire going, all of the sudden, it went boom and the whole thing, I looked at the back of the set, there must have been 10 to 15-foot flames flying up to the ceiling".

Firefighters moved in, as the set burned and smoke filled the building.

Evacuations went quickly as the last of the Eyewitness News staff made it to the street. The smoke in the lobby was thick enough to blind you an choke you.

Columbus Avenue and the rest of the streets around the ABC complex were clogged with fire trucks, traffic and bystanders.

There was extensive damage to the new high definition news set, but no injuries to any of the staff.

As firefighters moved through the building after the fire, they found carbon monoxide levels dangerously high.

"My last readings were over 400 parts per million," said FDNY Deputy Chief Jay Jonas.

But what is a safe reading?

According to Jonas, a safe reading is 10.

However, it is safe to be inside as of this morning even as damage and the debris is still all over the place. The news desk is still intact, however, you can see a lot of things around it are heavily damaged.

There are crews at the studio with water vacuums to suck up all the water from the floor and protect all the expensive equipment in the studio.

After the fire was under control and we got the all clear that no one was hurt, our priority became getting back on the air.

Thanks to the smart, hardworking technicians, firefighters, and engineers for working all night long, WABC-TV was back on the air Monday morning.

The giant rafters and beams that were just above the studio are charred and absolutely blackened all the way through.

When you see the damage, it's hard to believe Eyewitness News got back on air so quickly.

Last night, viewers tuning into Eyewitness News saw a black screen or color bars which was there for a couple of hours. While the fire burned the main concern was to get the employees out of the building. After that was accomplished the priority was getting the station back up and running.

Getting back on air with the studio underwater, the newsroom filled with smoke was no easy task. A lack of air conditioning to keep the equipment cool was the main concern.

Engineers worked with channel 7 management to make sure turning on any critical broadcast equipment would not cause further damage. Eyewitness new producers, writers and editors were all allowed back in the building around 2:00 a.m. Even though the smell of smoke hung in the air.

At the same time, engineers were able to patch through the west coast feed so programming was returned to the air this morning and Eyewitness News delivered the news.

There actually still doing an HD broadcast surprisingly, but they are doing if from the newsroom, they have no set anymore. Very odd looking. Original reports said most of there HD equipment was destroyed, but apparently, they are still able to broadcast in HD.

Thanks Ken, I wasn't sure if I could post the whole article here so I just posted the link.

David

From previous topics, it appears WABC went live with HD news in early December 2006:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=761773

As Paris would say, that's hot.

Doesn't WABC news share a studio with Regis and Kelly? Anyone know of any damage to their set.

Regis and Kelly will use the "Who wants to be a Millionaire" studio.

Doesn't WABC news share a studio with Regis and Kelly? Anyone know of any damage to their set.
I don't know if they share, or use, the exact same studio, but a number of shows are recorded at the WABC-TV studios, including "Live with Regis and Kelly."

Regis and Kelly's studio is below the news studio and got water damage.

Tonight's news was broadcasted in HD from the newsroom update desk.

I know that WABC was off the air for a number of hours, and the station simply went blank in both HD and SD. I was wondering if for emergency situations what the logistics of feeding in another ABC O&A would be in case of problems at the studios? Would they be able to simulcast say WPVI from Philadelphia? WTNH from New Haven?

I know that WABC was off the air for a number of hours, and the station simply went blank in both HD and SD. I was wondering if for emergency situations what the logistics of feeding in another ABC O&A would be in case of problems at the studios? Would they be able to simulcast say WPVI from Philadelphia? WTNH from New Haven?

An OTA receiver at ESB would have done the trick for at least analog.

There was extensive damage to the new high definition news set,...

I guess they'll have to revert back to their standard definition set.

:rolleyes:

Yes. But, what about 2009? That's something we are starting to worry about. All of our current evacuation plans are for, either operating the existing facility via remote control (if we just have to get people out of harm's way), or moving to the local newspaper offices and doing analog feeds to the transmitter via a remote microwave.

With DTV, you'd need a complete ATSC system, including backup PSIP and encoding equipment. Not to mention, if the studio is DOA, there are no feeds to Comcast, FiOS, D* or E*. So, we lose 75% of the audience anyway.

Regis and Kelly's studio is below the news studio and got water damage.

FYI

The Regis and Kelly set is actually part of the same studio (it's split roughly in half for their set and for the news set) If you ever see where guests come out from during the show - the news desk is literally right behind that wall

The fire didn't reach past the news desk side - but (I'd guess) the sprinklers for the studio is one system - so their side has "some" water damage.


BTW, having normal HD production from the "news room" was doable since it was already HD equipped (it was already regularly used during the normal news program... it's just a little cramped for 2 anchors)