Geekstalt
Fire at CJOH
Early this morning a piece of television history was destroyed.
CJOH is a local station in the Ottawa area. It's situated right by where I grew up in fact, but although it's a local station and proud of that fact, CJOH's impact on television is/was national and even global. Peter Jennings, the late host of ABC News in the United States started his television career in the building pictured here. So did Rich Little, Alanis Morissette and Sandra Oh. The production facilities here created shows shown in the local area and nationally, such as The Amazing Kreskin, Family Brown Country, Beat the Clock, The Galloping Gourmet, Mr. Wizard, Uncle Willy and Floyde and a teen-oriented show that hit it big in the international market, You Can't Do That On Television.
At approximately 4:20AM all of that burned.
It took 70 firefighters and 18 fire trucks more than two hours to control the blaze. Fire swept through the main production facilities destroying the news rooms and film studios. Far worse, the film archives appear to have been destroyed. Although many of the more popular shows still exist as recordings in other locations, most of the more local or older ones are now gone forever. Irreplaceable local news recordings for Ottawa have likewise been lost, as well as nearly 50 years of recorded national and internation news that took place in Ottawa: the visits of popes and princes, the summits of premiers and presidents, all gone. In a small way the recorded history of the world was diminished this morning.
It's also a very personal tragedy; Max Keeping, the gentleman you can see in the poster on the side of the building, has been a beloved television news fixture in Ottawa for over 30 years. He's donated thousands of hours to charities, and worked tirelessly to raise what's estimated at over $100 million in donations. After a struggle with cancer seven years ago, Keeping had decided to retire this year. Sadly, there is now no record left of the 31 years he broadcast on the station. Even most of the memorabilia in his office was destroyed, though reportedly firefighters were able to rescue some of it.
If there's any fortune in this, it's that the fire took place on a evening when there was no staff in the building and only security there present so no one was injured. At the moment, the station is broadcasting news from a TV truck situated outside the building, and also using part of their sister station's facilities. The cost of the loss is estimated at $2.5 million. No word as yet as to whether CJOH will rebuild.
Fire at CJOH
Early this morning a piece of television history was destroyed.
CJOH is a local station in the Ottawa area. It's situated right by where I grew up in fact, but although it's a local station and proud of that fact, CJOH's impact on television is/was national and even global. Peter Jennings, the late host of ABC News in the United States started his television career in the building pictured here. So did Rich Little, Alanis Morissette and Sandra Oh. The production facilities here created shows shown in the local area and nationally, such as The Amazing Kreskin, Family Brown Country, Beat the Clock, The Galloping Gourmet, Mr. Wizard, Uncle Willy and Floyde and a teen-oriented show that hit it big in the international market, You Can't Do That On Television.
At approximately 4:20AM all of that burned.
It took 70 firefighters and 18 fire trucks more than two hours to control the blaze. Fire swept through the main production facilities destroying the news rooms and film studios. Far worse, the film archives appear to have been destroyed. Although many of the more popular shows still exist as recordings in other locations, most of the more local or older ones are now gone forever. Irreplaceable local news recordings for Ottawa have likewise been lost, as well as nearly 50 years of recorded national and internation news that took place in Ottawa: the visits of popes and princes, the summits of premiers and presidents, all gone. In a small way the recorded history of the world was diminished this morning.
It's also a very personal tragedy; Max Keeping, the gentleman you can see in the poster on the side of the building, has been a beloved television news fixture in Ottawa for over 30 years. He's donated thousands of hours to charities, and worked tirelessly to raise what's estimated at over $100 million in donations. After a struggle with cancer seven years ago, Keeping had decided to retire this year. Sadly, there is now no record left of the 31 years he broadcast on the station. Even most of the memorabilia in his office was destroyed, though reportedly firefighters were able to rescue some of it.
If there's any fortune in this, it's that the fire took place on a evening when there was no staff in the building and only security there present so no one was injured. At the moment, the station is broadcasting news from a TV truck situated outside the building, and also using part of their sister station's facilities. The cost of the loss is estimated at $2.5 million. No word as yet as to whether CJOH will rebuild.