When I went into work today, I noticed that there was no power going to the printer. I took a peek in the fuse box and noticed that one of the breakers were off. I tried to flip it back on, but it would instantly just trip itself back to the off position. Upon investigation of the power outed area (the wall behind my desk, and Amy's office) I discovered that a couple of the outlets were making a strange crackling noise. Kinda like if someone was constantly opening a cellophane wrapped candy. Strange, yes, but it's a problem we've had before. I called the electrician, made an appointment for him to come out the next morning, and continued my normal day. Things got more intense, however, when I started to smell a faint smell, similar to that of melting plastic or rubber. On top of that, I started to hear loud pops coming from Amy's office, which were accompanied by the dimming of lights in other rooms. It was at this point that I realized that this was not a matter which could wait til the next day. So I called the Highland Park Fire Department non-emergency line.

A short while later, about 8 HP Firefighters came rushing into the studio in full gear. Realizing that it was overkill for the situation, only 3 of them stayed while the rest went back outside. The crackling sound baffled the firefighters, especially since there was no power going to the outlet in question. They even used their super high-tech heat camera which they pointed at the outlet. It came back negative. One of them took apart the outlet and pulled apart 2 black wires that were crimped together. The sound stopped. It was something to do with the wiring of those black wires. He separated them and capped them off. He said that I should really get that electrician out here ASAP.

So I successfully averted a possible electrical fire today. But a strange coincidence to todays events was that the circuit breakers for the fire alarm were also shut off, making the fire alarm non-functional. Now, these breakers are in a separate fuse box on the opposite side of the building than the cracking fuse. So if I wasn't there today and a fire broke out, the fire alarm would have done nothing at all.

Perhaps it was a disgruntled access producer trying to sabotage the studio? We may never know.