KARE Studios Evacuated

[GodfreyGR 812]

KARE's Golden Valley, MN Studios were evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a transformer fire around 1:30pm. Station website says as of 2:30, staff still not allowed back inside.

 

As of 4:30 central, the station is still off the air and showing a Technical Difficulties screen.

 

EDIT: The station returned to air at 4:52, showing Jeopardy in progress. 

Edited July 22, 2025 by GodfreyGR
Updated that the station has returned to air.

[GodfreyGR 812]

The station is trying to do the newscasts from their transmitter site in Shoreview. Reporter Kent Erdahl went on Facebook to show how they're trying to pull things off in a pinch.

https://www.facebook.com/KentErdahlNews/videos/1725930634762126

 

At the conclusion of Jeopardy, the episode started replaying for a minute before the station cut to a feed of "Minnesota Bound" that's still airing as of this posting. 

[GodfreyGR 812]

My last update on this hopefully for a while… KARE did get a 6:00 show to air from the Telefarm. The newscast opened with Julie Nelson standing under a tent explaining the situation and acknowledged that the newscast would be historic and different, and also said they will be out of the studio for the foreseeable future. 
 

Reporters appeared one after the other with the one handheld mic, and all b-roll and interviews/stories ran with whatever editing they were able to do. The commercial breaks were all PSAs, and the only graphics they had on the screen were a couple weather stills that Met Jamie Kagol said were prepared via text by WXIA as he explained the weather (possible severe) while looking at a radar on his phone. 

 

All in all, an impressive feat pulled off by everyone at KARE tonight. 

[ScottSchell 423]

John Ziegler and Lauren Leamanczyk is in or heading to Atlanta to WXIA 11 Alive to handle the streaming side for KARE11 while they deal with getting power back and getting back on air.

[GodfreyGR 812]

10:00 show still at the telefarm, This time they were able to show full weather graphics on air by logging into a computer at WXIA.
 

They noted what @ScottSchell posted that they have a team en route to Atlanta- but why there when there’s lots of TEGNA stations that are closer? Does WXIA have that much extra capacity?
 

I’ve got video from the 6:00 and 10:00 shows, but too large to upload here. Will figure out how to share tomorrow (any tips are appreciated!)

[mre29 1967]

19 hours ago, GodfreyGR said:

They noted what @ScottSchell posted that they have a team en route to Atlanta- but why there when there’s lots of TEGNA stations that are closer? Does WXIA have that much extra capacity?

 

I was wondering that, too. Maybe it's because they're both 11s? 

[GraphicsMan 345]

7 minutes ago, mre29 said:

 

I was wondering that, too. Maybe it's because they're both 11s? 

No it because they KARE lol…

[Georgie56 3661]

KARE anchor/reporter Rena Sarigianopoulos appeared on WCCO 830 to discuss the studio fire.

Edited July 23, 2025 by Georgie56

[Recovering Producer 410]

49 minutes ago, mre29 said:

 

I was wondering that, too. Maybe it's because they're both 11s? 

Corporate contingency plan. Likely a playbook written years ago, and refined with lessons learned from Hurricane Harvey flooding KHOU. Have a few strategic locations with fully functional second control rooms, studios, and a large enough of an operation where they have staff levels to support a sudden, unexpected addition without harming the host station’s product too much. Plus, MSP and ATL are both Delta hubs - so there are frequent flights between both cities to get talent there.

[mre29 1967]

1 hour ago, Recovering Producer said:

Corporate contingency plan. Likely a playbook written years ago, and refined with lessons learned from Hurricane Harvey flooding KHOU. Have a few strategic locations with fully functional second control rooms, studios, and a large enough of an operation where they have staff levels to support a sudden, unexpected addition without harming the host station’s product too much. Plus, MSP and ATL are both Delta hubs - so there are frequent flights between both cities to get talent there.

 

Makes sense, though I hope KARE and WXIA aren't the only stations set up for this. (I can see KING and WFAA both also being available.)

 

[Breaking News 888]

On 7/22/2025 at 11:29 PM, GodfreyGR said:

10:00 show still at the telefarm, This time they were able to show full weather graphics on air by logging into a computer at WXIA.
 

They noted what @ScottSchell posted that they have a team en route to Atlanta- but why there when there’s lots of TEGNA stations that are closer? Does WXIA have that much extra capacity?
 

I’ve got video from the 6:00 and 10:00 shows, but too large to upload here. Will figure out how to share tomorrow (any tips are appreciated!)

WXIA moved into WATL's building after Gannett (TEGNA) acquired the station. Previously, WXIA was located on Peachtree Street, behind WSB-TV. As WXIA outgrew its former space, management decided to relocate to the One Monroe location following the completion of the WATL sale. The new building offers significantly more space, and NBC News also maintains a presence there.

Edited July 25, 2025 by Breaking News