Engineer
Injured
$5000 DAMAGE IN CKMO FIRE
One man was burned about the face and hands, 150 students were forced to flee
and at least $5000 of high-priority broadcasting equipment was destroyed in a
“flash" fire which gutted the studios of CKMO radio station, 812 Robson,
Wednesday [sic].
Ross Whiteside, 1236
He was treated at a nearby doctor’s office, then
returned to help fight the fire.
Officials of the station say one of the heaviest losses was in the library of
recordings, where at least half of the 8000 records were destroyed.
CONCERT RECORDS
Records lost were mostly concert and symphony disks.
The broadcasting equipment will be replaced only with the greatest difficulty.
The fire is believed to have started from an overheated soldering iron.
The radio station was off the air for three minutes, after which broadcasting
was continued from the station’s transmitter.
The studios adjoin the Sprott-Shaw schools of
commerce and radio, from which students and teachers were evacuated.
----- Vancouver Province, March 31, 1944
One Injured in CKMO Fire
A flash fire which flared up in CKMO Broadcasting Station, 812 Robson Street,
about 2:30 p.m. yesterday, damaged high-priority equipment, interrupted
broadcast schedules, and seared an engineer’s hands and face.
Heat of a soldering iron upon some shavings of records was the cause of the
blaze which smoked 200 occupants out of the building.
Also housed there are the Sprott-Shaw Business School
and Sprott-Shaw Wireless School, the B.C.
Broadcasting System, Cloue Beauty Parlor, and the
offices of A.S. Fraser.
Ross Whiteside, chief engineer, recovering at home from burned hands, singed
hair and brows, was the fire’s only casualty.
A sheet of flame which shot out of the transmitting room in which Whiteside was
working drove other station personel from their
posts.
In about three minutes, broadcasting was resumed from the CKMO transmitter atop
The Sun tower. The station was again operative by
The station is jointly owners by Bruce Arundel and Mrs. R.J. Sprott.
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