Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
PBS Hawaii has temporarily lost the use of its main studio, but technicians were able to save its cameras from Friday’s electrical fire that knocked the public television station off the air for more than 24 hours.
Roberta Wong Murray, PBS spokeswoman, said property and casualty insurance estimators determined Monday that the fire caused "major" damage to the public television station’s studio.
"The cost will be substantially higher than HFD’s initial estimate of $250,000," Murray said Monday.
The television studio will be closed for about a month for repair and restoration. Murray said contractors must remove all soot from electronics and thoroughly clean all air-conditioning ducts.
"We can still smell the smoke," she said.
She said the fire, reported at 11:15 a.m., caused extensive smoke damage, as well as damage to the station’s audio boards.
Production of local programs such as "Long Story Short" with Leslie Wilcox, "Leahey & Leahey" and "Insights" on PBS Hawaii will resume Monday inthe adjacent Studio B in the building, which belongs to the University of Hawaii Media Lab.
Electrical power to the station was cut at 12:30 p.m. Friday, knocking the station off the air.
Programming was restored for cable viewers at 2 p.m. Saturday. The television station’s over-the-air signal was restored a few hours later.