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WIOO Fire

J

John-Summers

Guest
Just saw on WGAL News 8 that the studios and offices of WIOO in Carlisle suffered severe damage in a fire around 1:30 today. A passerby on York Road saw heavy smoke coming from the building and called 911. The station was on automation and no one was there at the time. Apparently it started in a first floor ceiling. Best wishes to Ray and the Country Gold crew to get back on the air from a new location soon.
 
Watching the news on CBS21, I have the same queasy feeling in my stomach I did when I rounded the corner the day after someone cut down one of WAEB's towers in Allentown and saw it laying there, missing tower #2's guys by 6 feet. There but for the Grace of God.....good luck, I've got a spare mono board if it'll help....
 
localy owned stations like these don't deserve this . Offering prayers that they get back on the air very soon.
 
A great local radio station. So sad to see this happen. WIOO has a lot of history. When they hit the air around '65, WHYL was the powerhouse competition. WIOO spent money on jingle packages and brought in young up and comers like Bob Hamilton, who could make then sound alot bigger than they were...and do it on a shoestring. It set up a real top 40 battle in Carlisle that attracted national attention in the industry. While all this was happening, both stations remained committed to the community. Around 1970, they adopted a "Drake" style format...and continued to evolve as they went throught the 70's. In recent years, Ray Thomas created the "Country Gold" format, which is one of the best...and they still manage to sound bigger than they are, while superserving the Carlisle area. I hope and pray that this setback will be short lived. There isn't alot to get excited about on the radio these days. WIOO was truly a refreshing change of pace.
 
THANKS for all the kind words of support and offers of help! Right now we are back on the air playing music and spots on a computer at the transmitter building. The game plan is to, at least temporarily, re-locate to another building Harold owns in town. The fire started in the electrical wiring above the suspended ceiling between the first and second floors. At 1 pm after finishing Tradeo, I put the station on the automation and left for lunch. Since it was a holiday, there was nobody else in the building. Eric was on his way to the station and heard the audio go off at 1:20. He got there at 1:30 and it was engulfed in flames. The fire marshall told us it probably started smoldering before I left the building, although I saw nothing wrong. I guess I got lucky!
Another stroke of luck was that we were able to salvage the hard drive from the control room computer containing all the music, spots, and automation software. Next we have to hope my production room computer boots up! Luckily I recently backed up all my Word files containing copy onto a thumb drive. What a way to start a new year.....
 
A fire, either in our homes or workplaces, is a worst-case fear realized. Thankfully no one was hurt or killed. Stuff can be replaced, people can't be. Thankfully your computers survived. Perhaps the silver lining is now you'll hopefully get some new studios. WIOO has had its share of woes this year, what with the deaths of Curt and Flo and now this. Here's to clear sailing for the rest of 2012. God bless and Godspeed.
 
Ray, I'm not from there, and have never been there, but as one broadcaster to another, you have my best wishes on a fast recovery. When I saw this scroll by on the main page, I had to check to see what happened. I hate seeing things like this.

Hang in there! You obviously have many friends here. :)
 
Glad WIOO is back on the air & hope things can be running smoothly soon. A great little local station with a big classic country sound. Wish there were still more stations like WIOO around!
 
I got my start at WIOO. I was intially trying to get hired at then QV-93. I was 17 at the time and Harold Swidler gave me a job that not very many owners would have given my age. I moved on to QV after doing weekends for a while and at one point was hired by Ray Thomas at WHYL. I had the oppertunity to work with some great people along the way, including Ray, Curt and Flo Fisher. While I no longer work full time in radio, I'm certainly grateful to be associated with everyone over the years. RockofHBG: Great thoughts from you, brother! Raven Ray: Hope you guys recover soon!!!!
 
We are moving into a building on North Hanover Street, Carlisle that is owned by station co-owner Eric Swidler that currently houses his wife's jewelry store. We'll be sharing the space with her. So far phone lines and internet connections have been installed and are in the process of being activated. We're still broadcasting from the transmitter building. We'll move the temporary studio into the new building within a few days and carry on from there while permanent studios are being built. It will be a very nice facility when we're all done. Much appreciate all the kind words, encouragement and offers of help!
 
The old building, while still standing, is pretty much destroyed inside, a total loss. One option might be to bulldoze it and build a new building on the site. But that hasn't been decided yet.
 
Ouch...didn't realize it was that bad inside. Glad to hear you're getting things pulled back together quickly...
 
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