Author
WSQT Radio 93.5 in DC
Sunday night there was a fire in the building housing WSQT's rig. The fire did not damage our equipment but destroyed a lot of furniture and some unplugged computers.
The building has only minor damge, thankfully!
The roof is fine, and the floor needs only a few square feet of new plywood.
Officials blamed the fire on an electrical cord, but the cord was brand new and used at less than 1/3 of its capacity. In addition the copper conductors in the 18 inch section where it was burned in the fire appeared undamaged. In an overloaded wire conductors corrode and thin, getting hotter and hotter as they do so. I've seen that many times, and this cord shows no sign of such damage. Only the insulation is gone, and only from a small section.
In addition, overloaded cords usually fail at the plugs on the end first, and their connectors still look brand new. in fact, there are no signs of excessive heat on parts of the wire not touched by the fire-none at all.
Interestingly, there were no fuses blown in any of the equipment on that cord(all are fused for safety!), nor did the breakers oin the wall trip like they would if a rat chewed through the wires and shorted them out(causing a spark).
In addition, the back door was kicked in for the second time in ten days, and cash disappeared from a section that had no fire damage. I've never seen an overheated wire kick in a door and steal selected items including cash!
Therefore, we have concluded the fire was set. The timing of the fire is also suspicious, coming less than 24 hours after the fire in Hagerstown. Guess is some asshole poured a flammable liquid around the cord(so it would look like an accident) and lit it up.
Someone seems to be seeking payback for something, but will soon find it takes more than a can of gas and a match to stop the Revolution.
There have been a number of suspicious incidents before, and it is unknown if the arsonists were after the radio station or some other activity run out of the same space.
What are the odds of an accidental fire occurring within a few hours of a burglary, and what are the odds that a wire installed only three months ago would choose to overheat less than 24 hours after Hagerstown(the ELF fire)?
We are now broadcasting on an irregular schedule with backup equipment while repairs are made at our primary location.
It takes more than a can of gas and a match to burn down The Squat!