Twin Cities television station KARE (Ch. 11) will continue broadcasting its full slate of its local news programs with the help of an Atlanta station and its transmitter tower in Shoreview.
The NBC affiliate was forced out its Golden Valley studio Tuesday afternoon after a transformer started popping, sparking and exploding, sending smoke into the facility off Hwy. 55 and Boone Avenue.
All staff members were safely evacuated and nobody was hurt, said station General Manager and President Doug Wieder.
In the hours that followed, the station flew anchor Lauren Leamanczyk and meteorologist John Ziegler to Atlanta and both were behind the cameras at WXIA for KARE’s “Sunrise” morning news Wednesday. WXIA is owned by Tegna Inc., the same company that owns KARE-TV.
Other staffers have assembled at the station’s 1,400-foot-tall tower in Shoreview, which will serve as KARE’s home for the foreseeable future, Wieder said.
“We can continue to bring viewers the local news and weather they rely on and trust,” Wieder said in an email to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
He added that KARE will determine when operations can return to Golden Valley or a temporary space.
“Everybody ran out of the building,” said host Jason Hackett Wednesday morning. “A big mess was left behind.”
![State Rep. Jim Abeler asked Somalis for their vote in the August 12 primary in his race against Mike McFadden to go up against Sen. Al Franken for the U.S. Senate seat. He handed out brochures in both English and Somali Friday after prayers at Somali Village Market in Minneapolis. ] Friday, August 1, 2014. GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com ORG XMIT: MIN1408011641271205](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/Q2CN5UBEOOTWQQJZ6CYF4X5SUA.jpg?&w=436&ar=3:2&fit=crop)
