Friday was a bad day for radio towers. Not only were two towers knocked down by vandals at KRKO-AM Everett, WA, but another deliberate attack took down a tower at WAEB-AM Allentown, PA. Also on Friday, an accident toppled the tower of WTJV-AM Deland, FL.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Allentown vandalism, making it seem unlikely that it is related to the Everett attack. The Earth Liberation Front has posted a news release claiming that its members were responsible for felling the two towers at KRKO. The ELF press office disseminates news about the organization, but claims not to know the identities of the people actually carrying out attacks.
Meanwhile, the Allentown Morning Call reports that local police and the FBI are looking into the possibility of a link, but have nothing yet to report. The 350-foot WAEB tower – one of five at the site owned by Clear Channel Communications, was brought down by someone chopping its guy wires. No one was injured and no structures outside the antenna site were damaged.
Hundreds of people witnessed the collapse of the WTJV tower in Deland, FL. A driver leaving a just-completed high school football game clipped a guy wire with the bumper of his jeep. According to the Volusia County Beacon, people gasped and screamed as they saw the tower begin to fall. Some cars were struck as parts of the tower hit the earth, but, almost miraculously, no one was injured. (Local reports incorrectly identified the station by its old call letters, WXVQ, apparently unaware that it had become WTJV since switching to a Spanish format.)
WTJV broadcasts from a single tower. However, it is part of a three-station simulcast in the greater Orlando area.
