Eyewitness News back on after fire

(New York- WABC, May 28, 2007) (WABC) -- WABC is back up and running, with a bit of a different look. Our studio was badly damaged by a fire late Sunday night, knocking us off air for a short time.

After a lot of work overnight, we are back on the air.

Progress has been made but there is still a long way to go.

Channel 7 went from reporting the news to being the news, when the studio caught fire.

It happened in an instant, as the anchors and crew prepared for the 11:00 p.m. news Sunday. An electrical malfunction behind the Eyewitness News set sparked a fire that shot straight up the wall, sending 50 staffers scrambling to safety.

"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," stage manager Smith Sumroy said.

The flames charred wires and insulation melted off the walls, equipment was in shambles. The entire episode was frightening.

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."

As smoke quickly filled the lobby, firefighters at one point considered breaking the enormous plate glass windows that make up the front of the WABC building. Once the fire was out, the fire department gave the all clear.

The next task was getting the Eyewitness News team back on the air, taking care of delicate equipment and making sure it was properly cooled and safe to use. For two long hours, viewers saw a black screen or color bars.

Finally producers, writers, and editors were allowed back into the still smelly newsroom to start preparing for the 5:00 a.m. newscast. With no set, anchors were set up at the update desk in the newsroom.

Eyewitness News is making do without a set. The news desk is still intact but everything else around it is badly damaged.

How did the fire get started?

At first, fire officials thought it was one of the studio lights that burst, but all of the bulbs are intact.

Now firefighters believe it was actually an electrical outlet on the back wall of the set that sparked the fire.

Clean up crews continue to work very diligently.

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