Fire razes Bayelsa State-owned radio station

By Ebi Jones

A fire outbreak has burnt a Bayelsa State-owned radio station, Glory FM.

The fire occurred at about 11am on Tuesday, July 2 2019. It was believed that the fire broke out from the control room of the station.

Details were that the fire affected the accounts office, live studio, recording studio, control room, confidential documents, electronics, furniture among others.

GbaramatuVoice learnt that a broadcaster at the station, Mr. Victor Binawari, who was broadcasting when the fire broke out said, “I was doing my breakfast show ‘Rise and Shine’ when the lights went off.

“I felt it was a minor technical issue we could fix. So we had to put on our torchlights and went on with the programme because the monitor indicated that we were still on air.

“It did not take long before I heard rumbling in the ceiling as if rats were up there chasing themselves. While I was wondering what was happening, one of our interns ran into the studio to alert us that the station was on fire.

“It was at that point I asked my guests to be calm and follow me out of the building. Only for us to get outside the studio to see that the building was seriously on fire.”

Our reporter learnt that the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Markson-Iworiso who visited the scene commended the efforts shown by firefighters to put out the fire.

“We are grateful to God that no life was lost. As a government, we are going to set up a committee to look into the root cause of the incident and report to the Governor for action. The state government would ensure that the station comes back on air as soon as possible,” he said.