The ABC found itself under fire this week due to unfair dismissal allegations put forward by journalist Antoinette Lattouf, however, it was a very different kind of fire that rocked the broadcaster today (LEAD image: Dailymail).
Its ABC News breakfast show was cut short in Melbourne this morning as staff were forced to evacuate due to a suspected fire emergency.
Hosts Michael Rowland and Bridget Brennan were wrapping up an interview when they stopped talking and looked at someone offscreen.
“We have to go, there’s a fire emergency,” the offscreen presence was heard to whisper.
“Now we’re dealing with a few things behind the scenes here,” Rowland begins to say to the camera before he is cut off and replaced by an advert.
Thankfully, Rowland has since confirmed that it was mainly a false alarm and all is well at ABC towers.
In a video posted to platform X (the platform previously known as Twitter) he explained that the fire brigade had had to be called.
“A bit of a dramatic morning, we had to evacuate the studios here at ABC Melbourne because of a fire alarm,” Rowland says gesturing to the big red truck behind him.
“We don’t think it’s serious,” he goes on reassuringly before his colleague cuts in and says “No, it smelt quite strongly of burnt toast. Always a risk during Breakfast”.
The clip ends with one of the fireman putting his thumbs up, signaling it is safe to reenter the building.
— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) January 18, 2024
Whilst the disruption may have been dramatic for Rowland, it pales in comparison when we consider that a live broadcast was stopped in Ecuador this month due to GUNMEN entering the building.
The TC Television network was live-on-air when men armed with pistols and what looked like dynamite entered, shouting that they had bombs. The sound of gunshots were then heard but it is not clear if anyone on the set was injured.
