Morganton, NC radio station WCIS was destroyed by fire overnight. Emergency dispatchers told news media that they received calls reporting flames at the station around 2:30am. The broadcast facility, owned and operated by Southern Gospel group, The Whisnants,.. is on the air only during daytime hours, so there were no staff members in the building at the time of the blaze. Although no exact cause has been determined, it's believed the fire started in a break room at the station.

 

Today several broadcasters have been reaching out to help the station. John Wishon, of WWWC (Wilkesboro, NC) says he talked with Susan Whisnant this morning. She reports that they lost their studios and transmitter,.. but the tower is OK.  Wishon adds: "Their frequency is 760 AM. If any stations has an old, working transmitter that is tuned to 760 or could be tuned quickly, please email me john@12403wc.com ASAP. I have a control board I am letting them have. As you know, they need to be back on the air ASAP because every day is lost revenue." Carl Ford at WRNA/WCKB (Kannapolis, NC) is already working with his engineer to help WCIS get back on the air, but says it will probably be a month or more.