A Big Zorch

[Bill, KD0HG]

By Jason Meisner
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 6, 2006, 4:06 AM CST

A fire broke out this morning in a television transmitter on the 101st floor of the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago, filling the floor with acrid smoke but causing no injuries, a fire department official said.

The fire was reported at 1:47 a.m. at the landmark 110-story tower, 233 S. Wacker Dr., and crews who responded called for an elevated alarm and five ambulances to the scene as a precaution, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

Flames broke out in a malfunctioning 100-kilowatt television transmitter serving Channel 60, Langford said.

"The components apparently broke down and caused a fire. There were not a lot of flames but it did send a lot of smoke through the floor," Langford said. "It's a piercing smoke and we're ventilating with portable fans."

Langford said the floor is a machine level that houses mostly transmitters that connect to rooftop antennae. There are no offices or residences on the floor, and no injuries or evacuations were reported, he said.

Crews remained on the scene until about 4 a.m. making sure the smoke had completely dissipated, he said.

Channel 60 is licensed to WXFT, a Spanish-language broadcast station based in Aurora and owned by Univision. No one answered phone calls to the station this morning.

[WA3VJB]

? Como se dice  CRAP OUT en espanol ?

[KB2WIG]

El crap hacia fuera en español es crap hacia fuera...    klc

[k7yoo]

CACA SALE?
(pronounced "caw caw sal-ey")

This is literal  for "crap leaving"--I am sure there is a correct colloquialism

It actually has a nice ring to it--maybe the beginning of a radio rap tune

Fuera is mas correcto

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

Es terrible.  No puedo ver nada hoy!

[n3lrx]

Oh boy.. Nothing like burned transformer potting and roasted caps! That building will be stinkin for weeks to come! lol Good job nobody got hurt tho..

Kinda does remind me of a funny incident tho..

I forget what Rock event it was, one of the last ones at Gathersburg before they move it do Bowie I believe. Anyway, we had LHB's T-368 and in the middle of an old buzzard keydown, I forget who was at the mike, maybe HUZ, (Sorry my brains are fried!) Ed (LHB) was sitting at the desk and I was standing behind him. I saw a flash, then smoke.. I yelled at Ed SMOKE! He turned and handed me some cigarettes, I said no, Ed SMOKE! and pointed at the TXer.. The tuning bellows on the Vacuum cap broke or something, and the transmitter de-tuned itself and started smoking.. Luckily all that it required was a shutdown and some tape to repair it.. After retuning it worked fine.. Remember that one Ed??

[WA1GFZ]

I remember form JS-a-rola training tapes Sears tower is one of the highest levels of RF radiation
known to man

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

I can believe that.  The RF levels at the top floor of WTC Building One in New York were such that only certain test equipment could operate.  Fortunately the IFR1200, the Bird 43 wattmeter, and the Fluke 87 worked fine up there.  The Telewave wattmeter worked, too.  I had problems with some stuff, though.

[WA1GFZ]

Mt. Wilson in L.A. blanked the FM radio in my car so it is another hot spot.

I hear the deck of an aircraft carrier is also pretty high