a peek inside the fishbowl

07 Feb, 2010

Sad day for CTV Ottawa

Posted by andrea tomkins in: Misc. life

When the phone rings this early on a Sunday morning you know it’s not going to be good news.

My first waking thought was SOMEONE HAS DIED. But when I heard Mark say: “you’re kidding” to the person on the other end of the line I knew it couldn’t be a death. As it turned out it was almost as bad.

There was a massive fire at the CTV Ottawa building on Merivale Road very early this morning. No one was hurt but the damage is extensive. The initial figure that’s being tossed around is $2.5 million but it has to be more than that. The newsroom is gone – expensive equipment – but more importantly, miles of archival footage is too. It’s the visual history of our city.

Some of you may or may not know this, but my husband Mark works at CTV. He’s a producer/director and has been there almost 25 years. CTV is his other family.

He drove out there as soon as he got the news to survey the scene. “It’s bad,” he said on a crackling phone. “Inside is all black.” He took this photo.

I’m trying to be optimistic, but this turn of events has hit our family hard and we’re in a bit of a daze today. I’m sure the managers are gathering, trying to figure it all out. But there’s almost no point speculating. Who knows what Monday will bring.


20 Responses to "Sad day for CTV Ottawa"

1 | jo(e)

February 7th, 2010 at 11:19 am

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Oh, wow. That’s terrible.

2 | Stefania (Ingredients for Life)

February 7th, 2010 at 11:23 am

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Any fire is a shame but one where rich history is lost is even more shameful.

I guess it’s too soon to tell what started the fire.

3 | Scatteredmom

February 7th, 2010 at 11:49 am

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Oh NO. That doesn’t mean…could it…that Mark won’t have a job?

I’m so sorry. The loss is horrible in of itself, but I worry about you guys and what will happen with Mark. Scary.

4 | Melissa

February 7th, 2010 at 1:22 pm

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I just read about it in the Globe and Mail. Came here to send a message. Sorry to hear! The loss of the archives is devastating…

5 | Jen

February 7th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

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that’s awful :-(

6 | Heather Ann

February 7th, 2010 at 3:01 pm

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Andrea – I woke up to that news coverage this morning and it was like a punch it the gut. Local television/news is so important and with the recent hits it has taken, this is all the more devastating.
For your family this is so terrible because of the uncertainty that it brings and because this is your husband’s other “home.”
I find fire to be horrifying and scary and am most afraid of it of all things. In February 1994 I was sitting watching the winter Olympics and studying for my veterinary midterms at my parents’ home. My dad, who had just had surgery, got up to look out the window at the storm we were having and shouted that the barn was on fire. That day, a barn that I had helped build and that had been part of my family’s livelihood, burned to the ground. We feared that the wind would turn and take the house as well so a brave neighbour with a bulldozer moved into the fire and pushed it so that it burned faster away from the house. I remember standing in the field with my heart and my stomach in my throat hoping that my dad was not in the barn doing anything stupid while I tried to keep the cattle away from the flames. I know the trauma that you are feeling today. I have also lost two cousins to a devastating house fire. Fire is not my friend. My thoughts are with you and your husband and family and his work family at this time. All the best.
Heather Ann
P.S. I’m the one Julie found yesterday because of your blog. I don’t comment much but I drop in all the time and enjoy your writing tremendously. And your pork soup with carrots and noodles and ginger is one of my favourite comfort foods ever.

7 | Nat

February 7th, 2010 at 4:02 pm

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Huge huge loss for the city as a whole…

Sending my best wishes to the CTV crew.

8 | Robyn Osgood

February 7th, 2010 at 4:34 pm

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What a sad day — for the city and for your family. I am sorry that you are having to deal with such uncertainty.

9 | Finola

February 7th, 2010 at 4:50 pm

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I am so sorry to hear about this. I’m hoping for a quick rebuilding, and also hoping that some of the lost materials have been duplicated in some different places.

10 | Lee

February 7th, 2010 at 6:42 pm

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Thinking of your family and Mark’s other family.

11 | andrea

February 7th, 2010 at 6:49 pm

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Thanks all, for your kind words. We’re ok, though still in shock. I don’t think Mark’s job is in jeopardy.

CTV Ottawa staff is all meeting at 7:00 a.m. on Monday. We’ll know more then.

12 | A Crafty Mom

February 7th, 2010 at 8:57 pm

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I saw this today, and it’s just so upsetting. What a terrible thing to happen to such a wonderful organization. I’m sorry it hits so close to home for you guys. I hope some good news comes of the meeting tomorrow.

13 | Shannon

February 7th, 2010 at 9:13 pm

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So sad. A building can be rebuilt, equipment purchased…but the lost history…:( When I heard about the loss I instantly hoped that in this day and age they’d have other means of back up, off site somewhere, electronic. Very sad.

14 | Loukia

February 7th, 2010 at 9:24 pm

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Oh my gosh… I didn’t know this happened… wow. That is so sad, so very sad. The state of local television is already is bad shape, what with losing A Channel’s 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news, but now to have CJOH building destroyed by fire – that’s too much! To lose local footage… unreal. I worked next to that building for a couple of years when I worked for The New RO… sad to see what happened. I wonder where they’ll do the news from tomorrow? Sigh….

15 | If you’re so inclined, here’s a butterfly Valentine’s Day card idea (and free template too!) >> a peek inside the fishbowl

February 8th, 2010 at 2:02 am

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[…] I am spending my Sunday evening tapping out this post instead of reading everything there is to know about the big fire at CTV Ottawa. […]

16 | Mark

February 8th, 2010 at 6:25 am

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Thanks for your concern everyone. Everything will turn out fine. We had an emergency plan that took effect and we’ll be broadcasting our news out of our sister station at the A Channel for the foreseeable future.

Glad that no one was (physically) hurt. I’ll find out better today where we go from here.

17 | Dave

February 8th, 2010 at 7:21 am

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So sorry, Mark and Andrea, for this. What a shock. Good luck.

18 | Hellcat13

February 8th, 2010 at 8:35 am

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This saddened me so when I read your tweet yesterday; doubly so now that I know your Mark works there! What a great loss for this city.

19 | andrea

February 8th, 2010 at 9:29 am

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Well, here’s the update – at least as it pertains to our family.

The part of the building that burned is the original television station … the two storeys that runs parallel to Merivale Road. Mark’s office is in what’s called “the tower,” it’s attached to the smaller building. A lot of his work, however, takes place in the edit suites which are very close to the newsroom. It’s not yet known how badly they’re damaged.

The news about the loss of the news archives is hitting everyone pretty hard. But they’re not all gone. Historical footage was in different areas of the building. What’s left remains to be seen.

Mark is still employed. I wasn’t sure if there’d be a temporary layoff or what, but he’s downtown at “A” this morning, meeting with co-workers and checking out the scene there.

There were emergency plans in place, and now they’re moving forward.

The challenge here is that there isn’t enough room at “A” to accommodate everyone from the CTV offices. Essential crew will be producing the news at the downtown studio and I guess others will work from home. Mark will likely be dividing his time between here and there for the time being. The tower, although unaffected by fire, has sustained some water and smoke damage. And they’re checking to make sure it’s totally stable. He won’t be going back there this week.

The fire was so hot it burned glass. It’s probably a chemical soup over there right now, one which will require major clean up.

Thanks again for your comments of support. Every single one is deeply appreciated.

20 | nora

February 8th, 2010 at 10:33 pm

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Hi Andrea:

Please pass on my best wishes to Mark and ask him to send my regards to Janet & Claude as well. So sad to hear about the loss of so much archival stuff, and the loss of so much memorabilia in Max’s office (and especially with him leaving shortly! Too bad he hadn’t already packed up his office.) I used to work at CJOH in Art & Design — seems like a distant memory now…

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My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

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