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'It's a bloody miracle we're still on the air'
KMUN staff, volunteers glue the community together in a crisis
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
Friday, December 07, 2007
The "Voices in the Dark" - the local radio stations and broadcasters who
have guided us through the "Storm of '07" and its aftermath - have
definitely proven their worth this week.
On the FM dial, they've been there all along.
Local public radio station KMUN 91.9 of Astoria "stepped up to the
plate," according to station manager Dave Hammock.
And despite a giant tree falling into the building, plus numerous
technical problems, the station was able to broadcast 24/7, with their
large staff of volunteers providing much-needed news and information.
"When something like this happens, it's not about being the alternative
radio station or diversity - for this week, we are a primary
communications conduit," Hammock said. "And we take that
responsibility very, very seriously."
On a lighter note, he added, "We are in fact, the back-of-earth, granola
people power, hippie socialist radio. That's us. But the whole
fundamental belief behind that is community service. So if we can't do it
now, what is the point of doing it at all?"
Hammock said the feedback the station has received has been positive,
and thankful. He also noted that KAST 1370 AM wasn't the only station
in town during the crisis.
KMUN staff, volunteers glue the community together in a crisis
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
Friday, December 07, 2007
The "Voices in the Dark" - the local radio stations and broadcasters who
have guided us through the "Storm of '07" and its aftermath - have
definitely proven their worth this week.
On the FM dial, they've been there all along.
Local public radio station KMUN 91.9 of Astoria "stepped up to the
plate," according to station manager Dave Hammock.
And despite a giant tree falling into the building, plus numerous
technical problems, the station was able to broadcast 24/7, with their
large staff of volunteers providing much-needed news and information.
"When something like this happens, it's not about being the alternative
radio station or diversity - for this week, we are a primary
communications conduit," Hammock said. "And we take that
responsibility very, very seriously."
On a lighter note, he added, "We are in fact, the back-of-earth, granola
people power, hippie socialist radio. That's us. But the whole
fundamental belief behind that is community service. So if we can't do it
now, what is the point of doing it at all?"
Hammock said the feedback the station has received has been positive,
and thankful. He also noted that KAST 1370 AM wasn't the only station
in town during the crisis.
An elm tree that crashed Monday morning
onto the roof of the Tillicum House,
broadcast home of KMUN, caused no
external damage to the structure and did
not disrupt programming. GARY HENLEY-The
Daily Astorian
onto the roof of the Tillicum House,
broadcast home of KMUN, caused no
external damage to the structure and did
not disrupt programming. GARY HENLEY-The
Daily Astorian
Mike McCusker reads a story on the day of
the 85th anniversary of the downtown
Astoria fire on the air during his morning
show at KMUN Thursday. GARY HENLEY-The
Daily Astorian
the 85th anniversary of the downtown
Astoria fire on the air during his morning
show at KMUN Thursday. GARY HENLEY-The
Daily Astorian
"We've been there, 24-7," he said. "And we're not particularly charmed by the reports we get from our commercial
competitor talking about being 'the only station' on the bloody air."
KMUN shuffled its programming lineup, and had to pinch-hit many of its volunteer programmers in other time slots
to stay on the air.
"It was really extraordinary to see the communication system fail so completely," during and after the storm, said
volunteer programmer Gordon Styler.
"There's a group of about eight of us here who are retired radio guys. What's neat is that we have such a highly
dedicated group of amateur radio programmers who were there."
And "Dave is a good manager," he said. "He's not going to toot his own horn, but of all the people I've known in
radio over the years, this is the kind of guy I want running the place when we hit a crisis."
The station's chief engineer, Terry Wilson, has been in charge of the technical aspects of keeping the station up
and running.
"We were off the air briefly Sunday when this thing started," Hammock said. "We had a glitch up at the transmitter
site on Megler Mountain, and Terry and (KMUN board member) Ray Merritt made it across the bridge, drove over
downed power lines and made it to the top of Megler Mountain, and they got back down and got us on again."
And that grand old character near the corner of 14th and Exchange Streets - the Tillicum House - came through in
the clutch and remains standing, as strong as ever.
"This is a 100-year old building," Hammock said Thursday afternoon from the home of KMUN, survivor of many a
storm and at least one huge fire.
"It was built in the 1890s, and it has a long and checkered past. It has a lot of character and helps shape the
culture of the organization.
"That said, it's a really tough building to run a high-tech enterprise out of. It's a fragile building, it's not very
fireproof, the circuitry and systems are old ... great character, but poor functionality.
"But it worked," he said. "Here we are, with a tree leaning on the roof, and we've been able to operate."
How it happened
The tree came down early Monday morning - during a news broadcast.
It's one more story you can add to the lore of the old house.
"There used to be four alders," on the north side of the building, Hammock said, before one blew over during a
storm two years ago.
"We have some board members who would chain themselves to those trees, rather than see them get cut," he
said, after two arborists recently - six days before the storm - declared that the three remaining alders would have
to come down, for safety reasons.
"Those trees were assessed with the ultimate top-hazard rating," Hammock said. "And there was another unique
tree (on the south side of the building) that also had to come down.
"Then the storm happens - and I'm not saying the arborist was wrong - but the four hazard trees are still there.
Ironically, the one that fell is one that he recommended taking out because it was an elm between two conifers,
and it was inhibiting the growth of the two conifers. The elm was the tree that fell."
But, fortunately, it did no apparent structural damage.
Between the efforts of the volunteers "and this noble old house," Hammock said, "we've kept the station on the
air.
"The volunteers and staff have really stepped up to the plate, matured and showed some depth that they
probably didn't know they had. We've had tremendous support from our volunteer programmers, putting in a
combination of long hours, and different hours."
The station's role "was magnified by the communications breakdown," he said. "In any storm situation, when the
power has gone out, we've stayed on the air and given people information.
"And if you didn't actually lose your roof in this one, what you'll remember about this storm is the isolation and
inability to get information and share information. One aspect of this storm, is that it has certainly raised the bar
on what constitutes being prepared.
"We think it's a bloody miracle we're still on the air."
Copyright, 2007 The Daily Astorian
competitor talking about being 'the only station' on the bloody air."
KMUN shuffled its programming lineup, and had to pinch-hit many of its volunteer programmers in other time slots
to stay on the air.
"It was really extraordinary to see the communication system fail so completely," during and after the storm, said
volunteer programmer Gordon Styler.
"There's a group of about eight of us here who are retired radio guys. What's neat is that we have such a highly
dedicated group of amateur radio programmers who were there."
And "Dave is a good manager," he said. "He's not going to toot his own horn, but of all the people I've known in
radio over the years, this is the kind of guy I want running the place when we hit a crisis."
The station's chief engineer, Terry Wilson, has been in charge of the technical aspects of keeping the station up
and running.
"We were off the air briefly Sunday when this thing started," Hammock said. "We had a glitch up at the transmitter
site on Megler Mountain, and Terry and (KMUN board member) Ray Merritt made it across the bridge, drove over
downed power lines and made it to the top of Megler Mountain, and they got back down and got us on again."
And that grand old character near the corner of 14th and Exchange Streets - the Tillicum House - came through in
the clutch and remains standing, as strong as ever.
"This is a 100-year old building," Hammock said Thursday afternoon from the home of KMUN, survivor of many a
storm and at least one huge fire.
"It was built in the 1890s, and it has a long and checkered past. It has a lot of character and helps shape the
culture of the organization.
"That said, it's a really tough building to run a high-tech enterprise out of. It's a fragile building, it's not very
fireproof, the circuitry and systems are old ... great character, but poor functionality.
"But it worked," he said. "Here we are, with a tree leaning on the roof, and we've been able to operate."
How it happened
The tree came down early Monday morning - during a news broadcast.
It's one more story you can add to the lore of the old house.
"There used to be four alders," on the north side of the building, Hammock said, before one blew over during a
storm two years ago.
"We have some board members who would chain themselves to those trees, rather than see them get cut," he
said, after two arborists recently - six days before the storm - declared that the three remaining alders would have
to come down, for safety reasons.
"Those trees were assessed with the ultimate top-hazard rating," Hammock said. "And there was another unique
tree (on the south side of the building) that also had to come down.
"Then the storm happens - and I'm not saying the arborist was wrong - but the four hazard trees are still there.
Ironically, the one that fell is one that he recommended taking out because it was an elm between two conifers,
and it was inhibiting the growth of the two conifers. The elm was the tree that fell."
But, fortunately, it did no apparent structural damage.
Between the efforts of the volunteers "and this noble old house," Hammock said, "we've kept the station on the
air.
"The volunteers and staff have really stepped up to the plate, matured and showed some depth that they
probably didn't know they had. We've had tremendous support from our volunteer programmers, putting in a
combination of long hours, and different hours."
The station's role "was magnified by the communications breakdown," he said. "In any storm situation, when the
power has gone out, we've stayed on the air and given people information.
"And if you didn't actually lose your roof in this one, what you'll remember about this storm is the isolation and
inability to get information and share information. One aspect of this storm, is that it has certainly raised the bar
on what constitutes being prepared.
"We think it's a bloody miracle we're still on the air."
Copyright, 2007 The Daily Astorian