Thick smoke that's been engulfing Canberra for several days forced the evacuation of ABC Canberra's Dickson studios on Tuesday evening, only minutes before the start their 7pm news bulletin.
The smoke, which triggered fire alarms inside the newsroom, saw anchor Dan Bourchier have to do an instant outside broadcast from out the front of the ABC's headquarters.
Ironically, it was news about the smoke and its effect on Canberra that was leading the bulletin that night.
"Tonight, we're broadcasting from the front of the ABC building in Dickson, where smoke prompted fire alarms to go off, like so many buildings across the capital," he said during the broadcast.
"This appears to be becoming the new normal."
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Bourchier praised the quick-thinking efforts of news crews on social media following the broadcast.
"Thanks to the whole ABC Canberra team, who all worked extra hard tonight to make sure we could get the news to air tonight when all the fire alarms were going off," he said on Twitter.
Tonight’s @abcnews is being brought to you from outside our ABC studios on Northbourne after we were evacuated due to the smoke setting off the fire alarm pic.twitter.com/H7V5Noc7tS
— ABC Canberra (@abccanberra) December 17, 2019
It wasn't only the TV news that was affected by the evacuation with ABC Canberra radio staff having to leave the building during programming.
Radio crews were forced out of the building just before the end of the Drive program, having to play Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody to stay on the air.
"It's not just that we love that song, it also happens to be really long and we had to evacuate the studios due to the smoke alarm going off," ABC producer Jamie Travers said on Twitter.
If you were listening to the end of Drive I’m @abccanberra and marvelling at the fact we were playing Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s not just that we love that song, it also happens to be really long and we had to evacuate the studios due to the smoke alarm going off. 📻💨🔥 pic.twitter.com/nHZ99MJ6TN
— Jamie Travers (@JamieTravers) December 17, 2019
The smoke haze that's been blanketing the capital over the past few weeks is expected to continue until at least Saturday, due to bushfires near Braidwood and on the South Coast.
Smoke is forecast throughout much of the day on Wednesday and is expected to worsen in the evening.
