Fire Sends TV Station to Black

May 28, 08:22 AM

Current Headlines: An exploding studio spotlight and fire forced WABC-TV in New York to go off the air shortly before its 11 p.m. newscast Sunday, the station said.

The office at the Lincoln Center was evacuated and no injuries were reported, The New York Times reported Monday.

We had to go to black for about two hours, said news director Kenny Plotnik.

The light bulb set a curtain on fire, witnesses said. Only the curtains and the area behind the set were damaged.

The fire started in the ground-level studios sometime between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., news anchor Joe Torres said. A stagehand and another employee investigated.

All I saw was flames and I screamed 'Fire' to get everyone out, said Grant Brown, the stagehand who was the first person to see the fire. People looked at me like I was crazy. I mean, who has a fire in the studio?

The national ABC network, housed in an adjoining building, was evacuated also, but it was not affected by the fire, said Jonas, a deputy fire chief at the scene.