Fire Alarms Interrupt NBC’s Newscast

NBC News anchor and former volunteer firefighter Brian Williams doesn’t expect to hear alarms during his day job.

He did Tuesday night, when an audible fire alarm from a floor below the “Nightly News” studio in New York repeatedly interrupted the newscast.

Spokeswoman Erika Masonhall said Wednesday that it was a drill, but that technicians couldn’t immediately turn off studio loudspeakers. “Nightly News” moved into a new studio a month ago.

Alarms went off twice as Williams read a story about American Airlines. He flashed a bemused smile the second time and said, “We should remind our viewers that there’s no danger to us.”

After the problem was fixed, Williams redid the broadcast for non-Eastern time zones.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)