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WTVO evacuated, tower damaged


Weeters

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TVNewsTalk is learning that WTVO in Rockford, IL sustained tower damage earlier this evening, forcing both WTVO and sister station WQRF off-air as the studio building below was evacuated for safety concerns. The 650 foot tower rises directly above the building.

 

A notice posted on WTVO's website says the problem is a "safety concern" with the high tension guide wires keeping the tower in place.

WTVO Channel 17 (Comcast 4, DT 17.1), WQRF FOX 39 (Comcast 6, DTV 39) and Rockford's My Network TV (Comcast 16, DTV 17.2) and Bounce Rockford (DTV 39.2) are experiencing programming outages.

 

A safety concern has been raised about the high tension guide wires that anchor our antenna, and we are working to correct the problem and will be back on-air as soon as possible.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience.

 

A tweet from WREX-TV Meteorologist Eric Sorensen says that "several" of the guide wires snapped.

 

The tower was built in 1953, according to FCC records. TVNewsTalk will continue to monitor this story.

 

UPDATE 8:39PM: Homes in the area have been evacuated.

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I've been to WTVO, there are a few houses in the area but for the most part it's in the middle of a large field if I remember.

 

The snow that has been falling tonight is heavy and wet and isn't helping the situation if it is in fact accumulating on the tower.

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OK, they didn't snap, but the guy wires "came loose".

 

A safety concern forces WTVO and FOX 39 off the air.

 

Loose guy wires on the antenna tower led to a precautionary evacuation of the WTVO / WQRF FOX 39 studios at approximately 5:35p on Friday. As a further precaution, the main power was also shut down.

 

"We don't anticipate any structural difficulties with the tower but we want to err on the side of caution," said Vice President and General Manager Jon Skorburg. "We have engineers who specialize in this type of situation en route and hope to have more answers later today."

 

Skorberg said the station anticipates resuming a regular broadcasting schedule soon.

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Yet another update:

 

WTVO contacted us over Twitter to offer an explanation as to what happened.

 

@tvnewstalk Update to WTVO situation: guy wires are still attached, but "galloping" in last night's storm winds.

 

They've also posted a video on their website which features a clip of the wires moving in the wind. Obviously, wires meant to keep a tower perfectly vertical should not be moving much, if at all.

 

The station has temporarily moved some operations to a nearby hotel, and has resumed posting content to their website.

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