OMG !! Check this out....Talk about dedication!!

http://www.break.com/index/radio-booth-engulfed-in-flames.html

Had smoke in the on air booth at KCNR circa 1985. I was doing afternoons on the AM; Glynn Shannon was on the FM.

Smoke began to appear through the duct system in the building. Both Glynn and I would stay in our booths for as long as we could then go out to the parking lot and listen in on our car radios, then go back in and transition to the next song.

The fire department was called in. I can't recall all the details but I think we were dealing with some kind of oil fire that was creating all the smoke.

Other smoke incident was at KWIP in Dallas, OR 1982. I was on the air doing my rip and read of the news when all of sudden the meters in the transmitter room directly in front of me went dead. Moments later smoke appeared. We had a small electrical fire we were able to put out. It kept us off the air the rest of the day.

Anyone know where this video is from? Several of us were dying after watching it! "The news must go on..."

Now That Was A Hot Show. At Kisn One Time Dave And i Were Doing A Bit And The Mic Fell Off The Stand There I Was Holding The Mic Until We Were Done

The format of that station must be Hot Talk!!!!


Years ago, I remember that one of Rush Limbaugh's fill-in hosts had the Golden EIB mic fall on him. I think that he must have gotten nervous, and he started playing with the thumbscrews. Suddendly, there was a big THUNK on the air, and the host said sheepishly, "The Golden EIB mic just fell...."

Bruce Van Buskirk had a very scary shift at KBPS on January 3, 1991. I was actually scheduled to fill in for him that evening, but he had bounced back enough from the flu to come to work. I am still very grateful to have had the overnight off. I would love it if he rang in with his experience, or other staffers chimed in, but I can relay what I remember about it.

At the time, I lived in the Buckman neighborhood, not far from the school. After smelling smoke and hearing many fire engines roll by, I bundled up and walked through the billowing acrid cloud with my roommates. It was so thick that it was not clear where the fire was until we got to 12th and Sandy and Burnside. We arrived around half an hour after the blaze started and it was already massive. Most of the south end of the center section of Benson High School was aflame.

I was not there very long before I ran into Bruce. He was a bit shaken, but very glad to be alive. As I recall, he said that the school police had been observing a number of fire alarms in the building on their computers. It had been going on for at least a few minutes before they decided to give him a call in the booth and ask about it. With the construction and renovation, they had been getting all sorts of false alarms for months.

They told him to go take a look and see if it was a real fire. So, he quickly went out to the hallway, smelled it instantly and could see the orange flames reflected in the stairwell. He went down the stairs just far enough to see an inferno through the doors on the other side of the breezeway. He ran back upstairs to tell the school police that the fire was real, but before he could sign off, the firemen came in and whisked him outside.

He did escape without injury, but it was close. Not long after he left, the blaze came within a few feet of breaching the attic that ran above the old studios at the south end of the building. We came very close to losing that part of the facility. It was stinky for a long time, but fortunately the station did not suffer any fire or water damage. Everybody loved Bruce, but I remember that we were all even nicer to him after the fire.

Anybody ever been flooded out? When I was a young jock working "Top 40" in Santa Maria we had a heavy rainstorm. The roof drains got clogged and water started flowing (not dripping) down the ceiling tiles into the control room. There was over an inch of water on the floor. The manager would not let me flee the control room. The show must go on. I think I put on a long song while cleaning up. Lucky for me, I was not electrocuted.

The station "logo" is on the back wall of the studio.

"Greece, Athens 09-12-2008 A fire, caught on cctv, breaks out during a live internet broadcast at City 99.5 fm radio station"

Just saw the same video on Olbermann said that it was from WNEW circa 1970? huh?

Doesn't make sense

> Just saw the same video on Olbermann said that it was from WNEW circa 1970?

No way! Either Olbermann must think that his viewers just fell off the turnip truck or it is his idea of a joke.

"Anyone know where this video is from?"

WBAI 99.5 New York - Pacifica Radio.

When I was at KAAR in 1986, at the Tower Mall studios we had to evacuate one afternoon. The entire suite fill with toxic gas. We were all chocking but decided to un-plug a cart machine and take it, along with some carts, across the river to the transmitter site.

We'd dash into the studio, then dashed out into the mall to catch our breath. Soon the entire mall was just as toxic. The Fire Dept. arrived, they evacuated everyone. I remember John Hugill & Joe Casavette still coughing at the trany site. We broadcast until 9pm and then shut down. We ended up just playing music, we couldn't get the mic to work.

Turns out our next door neighbor in the mall, a pet shop, had been defrosting an old refrigerator icebox with a knife and punctured one of the coils which leaked something so bad I still remember the smell today!

BuZZZZZZZ.

Nice guess, but wrong, Craig.

The video is from 99.5 FM The City, Athens Greece.

I'm sorry to have to splash some water on this hot thread, but I have found a discussion board where some skeptics are suggesting that this video was staged as part of a "viral" marketing campaign:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/23/radio-announcer-undi.html

What they find suspect is the big flash that goes off after the announcer kicks the waste basket. When I first saw this, I found it scary that a fire could spread so fast, but I was left wondering what was on that back table that could ignite so quickly? Could paper burn that fast? What would create a flash like that?

I had the AP wire machine clog up with paper (previous jock didn't keep it clear that night like we all were supposed to when a newsperson wasn't on shift). Sitting in the control room, I detected the distinct odor of smoke. The c.r. glass looked the opposite way of the door, so I opened the door and sure enough the entire news and production area was full of black smoke from ceiling to about 2 feet from the floor. I crawled under the smoke to the news closet where the AP machine was, moved it away from the wall (burned my hand the thing was so hot) and unplugged the AC cord. Then called the fire department. They made a courtesy call to make sure everything was OK. Never said a word on the air. Left a note for the boss in case the dept. billed the station. Just another crazy all nighter from the days of my youth. The naked women stories are better.

"Just another crazy all nighter from the days of my youth. The naked women stories are better."

2 Pairs! But they were gone by the time I finished the weather.

You'll find a number of stories about the fire on Greek news and World news (like CNN International)sites. You can also google "99.5 The City Athens" and you'll find many credible news reports.

Dedication? I don't think so. Just plain stupidity. If there is fire, do not sit there. PUT IT OUT or Get the Hell out. Anyone should know that.And if you don't, now you do.

Maybe I am a bit clumsy in my use of search terms today, but I am unable to find any links in Google or Google News to news stories about this fire. I can't find specifics, like the air personality's name. Using the phrase "99.5 The City Athens" with quotes yields nothing. Without quotes, I get a number of links to pages about radio stations on 99.5, cities name Athens (not necessarily in Greece), etc. The best that I can do is to come up with links to the video, which don't do much to confirm its authenticity. Could you please post a link to one of the news stories that you found? Thanks.

In 1980 (or was it 81?) I was in the production room at KOHU in Hermiston, doing production after having signed off the station at midnight. A couple of hours later, I smelled something burning, stuck my head out in the hallway and saw blue smoke hanging a couple of feet down from the ceiling. Turns out a part failed in one of the transmitters(Can't remember now if it was AM or FM) and caused all the smoke. I called the Fire Department, then the owner.

Easrly 90s, coming back from Portland, stopped at KLOG/KUKN, to make sure all was okay. It had been raining particularly hard that night and when I walked into the K-LOG studio, I found water pouring down the walls. (Likely came in through where the satellite dishes were mounted on the roof.) Found some tarp, covered the rack with the cd machines, called the boss, then stayed to make sure all was okay.

In 96, went to work at KTIL, soon after that year's big flood. Could still see water marks on all the walls, including in the studio.