Received-Date: Mon, 7 Sep 92 11:02:35 +0200
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
Date:         Mon, 7 Sep 1992 05:04:42 -0400
Reply-To:     Alfredo Cotroneo <A.Cotroneo@IT12.BULL.IT>
From:         Alfredo Cotroneo <A.Cotroneo@IT12.BULL.IT>
Subject:      BBC Bush House was on fire

This message to check if anyone was listening to the BBC World Service on
 Saturday Sept. 5, 1992, at around 6:45 UTC, and to the strange things heard
 then.

When I tuned at that time, the usual programming was not on the air, but
instead an unusual music programme was broadcasted, with a live announcer who
kept saying something like: "You should have relized that this is not the
programme which you would have expected at this time. We have **a problem**,
and we shall be back to normal as soon as we solve it."

I must confess that this sounded a very strange announcement indeed, especially
 when
it came from the BBC, and then I tried to tune to other BBC frequencies which I
 usually receive at tha time to see if that was maybe a transmitter problem, but
 all frequencies on air carried the same programme. And also the BBC WS feed
 that we have via satellite (Intelsat) on FM in Milano carried that strange
 music programme. I kept my hears open, and locked my DC777 shortwave receiver
 in the car to 7.325 MHz, the frequency which gave me the best reception at that
 time.
After they missed the 7 UTC news, I began to thing that something wrong was
really happening, and I was struck by the fact that they did not mention any
"technical" problem, but just kept saying these words: "we have **a problem**".
In about twenty or so years of listening to BBC WS, I had never heard such a
 strange transmission, and I began thinking such things as a terrourist takeover
 of Bush House, a coupe d'etat in London or even that a (nuclear) bomb might
 have fell over the city and they managed to set up an emergency studio in a
 shelter.
I started to be somehow worried ....

Soon after 7 UTC I pick up my cellular phone and decided to call Bush House to
 ask what was going on. After qualifying myself, I was put on hold and finally
 they explained that a section of the building (presumably where the news room
 is) was on fire, and they had to evacuate the entire building. The operator
 said that from where she was the situation was under control, no one was hurt,
 and she invited me to call back in about an hour for further developements.

At 07:30 UTC, the scheduled programming came back on the air, but I was not able
 to hear any official explanation (I had some other things to do at that time).
 I missed the 8 o'clock news, so maybe they did say something then. At 9 UTC
 when I retuned, everything sounded normal, but in the news they did not make
 any mention to the whole affair.

I am just wondering if anybody has more information at this time. I will call a
 few people I know at Bush House sometimes this week, and pass you more info if
 anybody's interested.

I just wanted to check if anybody was listening to BBC WS on that very odd
 Saturday morning.

73s,

Alfredo, Milano, Italy

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Alfredo E. Cotroneo   email: a.cotroneo@it12.bull.it          |
|   or: 100020.1013@compuserve.com (preferred)                  |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+-
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave