TV tower collapse knocks 2 stations off the air

By Cathy Frye , Mike Linn

Photo by Benjamin Krain

A KATV, Channel 7, signal tower lies crumbled after collapsing Friday south of Redfield.

ADVERSTISMENT

REDFIELD — A 2,000-foot television tower collapsed Friday afternoon in rural Jefferson County, knocking two stations off the air and sending about a dozen workers running for safety.

Channel 7 Transmission tower falls

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None of the workers, who were restringing guy wires at the time, suffered serious injuries in the collapse of the tower owned by KATV, Channel 7, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock.

"I was scrapping wire by the trailer and I looked up, and it was coming down and I ran," said Wesley Hogue, one of the workers. "We were all really shocked."

The tower was built in 1965, and at the time was considered the second-tallest structure in the world, just 63 feet shorter than a tower in Fargo, N.D.

For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Subscribers can read the story here on ArkansasOnline.

Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.