YouTube: 5NEWS
A meteorologist in Arkansas is earning praise online after continuing a live weather broadcast despite a studio fire breaking out behind the scenes.
Noah Simmons, a meteorologist for KFSM-TV in Fort Smith, was covering active tornado warnings on June 6 when a studio light caught fire during the broadcast. Despite the incident, Simmons remained on air to continue tracking severe weather affecting the area.
As the fire continued, Simmons addressed the situation while covering his nose with his shirt, saying: “So we just had a fire in the studio, but we got two tornado warnings,” Simmons said. “So we got to keep tracking this and covering this live.”
The unusual moment quickly spread online after clips of the broadcast were shared across social media, with many viewers praising Simmons for staying focused on the weather emergency.
Simmons explains what happened during the live broadcast
While some viewers believed the studio was filling with smoke, Simmons later clarified during a Facebook livestream that much of what appeared on camera was gas released from a fire extinguisher used to put out the flames.
According to Simmons, the incident began when the lights in the studio started flickering. “Five, 10 seconds later, I start to smell a little bit of smoke,” he said. “That’s not normal.”
(Fire starts at 14:00 in the video)
Moments later, Simmons spotted a studio light on fire above him.
“In the stream, I use the word ‘lamp,’ I don’t know why I used the word ‘lamp,’ it was actually a studio light that caught on fire. So that happened, it’s in flames. The studio light is lofted up in the ceiling,” he explained.
Simmons said he was alone in the studio when the fire started and alerted coworkers off-camera: “That’s when I walked off camera a little bit and kind of said, ‘Guys, we have a fire happening in the studio right now,’ ” he said.
Agent survives 24 hours in the Arctic with plans for Amazon rainforest stream next
Stray bullet in Texas causes mass internet outage affecting thousands
A producer then used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames while Simmons continued tracking the tornado warnings.
“It was a little tough to breathe, that’s why I had my shirt over myself, but when you’re tracking two tornado warnings at the time, I felt there was a need to keep going,” Simmons said.
No injuries were reported during the incident. Simmons later said he experienced a sore throat and watery eyes afterward, but was otherwise doing well and had access to medical services through the station.
