3 Broadcast Engineers Lose Homes to L.A. Wildfires

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GoFundMe pages have been set up; SBE Chapter 47 is also donating

An aerial view of the sun rising above homes that burned in the Eaton Fire on Jan. 21 in Altadena, Calif.
An aerial view of the sun rising above homes that burned in the Eaton Fire on Jan. 21 in Altadena, Calif. (Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Fundraising efforts are underway for three Los Angeles-based broadcast engineers who have lost their homes to the ongoing California wildfires.

Michael Kealing, manager of engineering at Trinity Broadcasting Network, Charlina “Liz” Johnson, senior studio/transmitter engineer at Univision Communications and Maurice Mischook, a broadcast engineer at iHeartMedia, were impacted by the Eaton Fire. The three engineers and their families have active GoFundMe pages.

As of Thursday afternoon, the two largest fires — the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire near Pasadena — remain active. The Eaton Fire alone has destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures, in addition to endangering several broadcast facilities. It has burned more than 14,000 acres, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A power meter remains at the incinerated land-mobile communications building on Mt. Wilson following the Eaton fire.

A power meter remains at the incinerated land-mobile communications building on Mt. Wilson following the Eaton fire. The vast majority of broadcast operations for the greater Los Angeles area continued unscathed, although Mts. Wilson and Harvard have relied on generator power for an extended period of time.  (Image credit: Steve Rhoades/ABC7)

Chapter 47 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers — the society’s L.A. chapter — sent out the following call to action in an email to its members:

“It [has] been an intense few weeks with all the fires raging in our beloved Los Angeles area,” read the email. “Our hearts go out to each and every person affected by these awful events. We are very grateful to all of the firefighters and first responders who have been valiantly battling the fires.

“We’ve heard of three L.A. engineers who unfortunately lost their homes. We will be making a contribution to their GoFundMe pages and encourage our members and friends to do the same. If you are able to help in any way, please consider donating. We thank you for your continued support of Los Angeles radio and television and hope everyone stays safe.”

Matt Anderson, a regional engineer for iHeartMedia Los Angeles and the immediate past chair of SBE Chapter 47, sent an email to Mount Wilson engineers sharing the GoFundMe pages and asking his colleagues to consider donating. Mount Wilson is home to nearly every Class B FM signal serving L.A.; 21 FM signals in all broadcast from there. The transmission site escaped the wrath of the wildfires on Jan. 9.

“SBE47 has donated $300 to each of these individuals in an effort to try and provide a little help in this very difficult time,” wrote Anderson. “These are individuals that work hard day in and out to make broadcast magic happen and need a little help from our community right now.”

This article intially appeared on the website of TV Tech sister brand Radio World.

Elle Kehres
Elle Kehres

Elle Kehres is a content producer for Radio World with a background spanning radio, television and print. She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in broadcast journalism. Before coming to Radio World, she was the assistant news director at a hyperlocal, award-winning radio station in North Carolina.