WOAI was knocked off the air during the morning newscast Tuesday when a fire broke out in the building that houses the San Antonio NBC affiliate. The station was airing NBC’s special report on the celebration mass for Pope Francis when the programming went to black.
“At approximately 5:00 a.m. a fire alarm was triggered at WOAI-TV, and the building was evacuated. Fire units arrived shortly thereafter. The fire was contained to second floor offices. We expect to have electricity restored to the building by noon, and we anticipate having WOAI-TV on the air later this afternoon,” WOAI general manager John Seabers said in a statement. “We are grateful no one was injured.”
In the station’s slideshow of the fire, flames can be seen in the second floor window of the WOAI building. WOAI reporters and anchors did live reports from the scene on Fox affiliate KABB, which is also owned by WOAI parent company Sinclair Broadcasting.