WTVO Engineering Staff - ROCKFORD'S A/V CLUB

Last February, the Eyewitness News team was on the air reporting about an overnight ice storm that caused power outages and road closures when a call came in to evacuate the building.

The station’s chief engineer, Mike Real, was watching the ice-covered guywires of the 700-foot broadcast tower sway in the gusting winds, and he knew a failure could cause the tower to collapse onto the building. So, Real, along with general manager Mike Silecchia, made the call to evacuate the building.

Then the team started looking for workarounds to continue broadcasting.

Real remained at the WTVO/WQRF site to coordinate the evacuation of nearby homes in the event of a structural failure. He coordinated with local fire and police to calculate an evacuation radius and stayed in communication with them throughout the ordeal.

Silecchia partnered with the Rockford Rivets, who offered a space to broadcast from. And Steven Frank, assistant chief engineer, coordinated with a colleague at WMBD in Peoria to get the equipment needed for the evening broadcast.

That night, Eyewitness News was on the air again, albeit from an alternate location with borrowed equipment and weather maps drawn on dry erase boards.

The next day, a repair team was able to stabilize the broadcast tower. Over the weekend, huge chunks of ice fell from the guywires as temps began to rise. By Sunday, the staff was given the all clear to return to the newsroom.

The WTVO/WQRF engineering staff not only protected the lives of the staff and nearby residents, but they found a way to continue broadcasting during a significant weather event.