Athens municipal radio station Athina 9.84 has returned to the FM airwaves with a music programme following a 34-hour outage caused by a fire at its facilities in the Technopolis complex in Gazi.
The fire broke out in the batteries and uninterruptible power supply units in the building's second basement during the early hours of Sunday, August 23. The station went off air at 6 a.m. on Sunday and did not resume broadcasting until Monday afternoon.
The Technopolis complex is a major cultural venue and industrial museum housed in a former gasworks near the centre of Athens.
Former Athens mayor Kostas Bakoyannis criticised the station's management over the incident, describing it as an unprecedented three-day blackout and highlighting a lack of emergency planning.
Safety protocol enforced
The station's management released a statement saying the broadcast interruption was necessary for safety reasons. The Hellenic Fire Service and the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, known as HEDNO, required a complete power cut to Technopolis.
Management said shutting down the power was the only option, and the measure included turning off the station's functional backup generator. A HEDNO crew later returned to the facilities to confirm all safety measures were met.
Protecting staff and facilities was an absolute priority despite the painful absence from the airwaves, the statement said, adding that there is no room for taking risks with the broadcast signal of an institution like Athina 9.84.
The fire was caused by a material failure in the batteries. Smoke detectors triggered an alarm, leading to an immediate evacuation and a call to the fire service. The station noted that the batteries were fully maintained and all required fire safety certificates were valid.
Management criticised
Bakoyannis said the station broadcast a blank signal for 36 hours before returning with a music-only feed that included Christmas songs in the middle of summer.
He attributed the crisis to serious administrative inadequacy and a complete lack of planning. He also questioned the extent of the fire, the response time, and whether there was a risk to the workers, the public, or the Technopolis industrial monument itself.
Bakoyannis asked where the station's management and safety technician were during the incident, what prevention and protection measures had been taken, and whether there was unmaintained equipment. He also questioned when normal programming would be restored and if the competent authorities were informed on time.
He said citizens who pay for the station are entitled to responsibility, transparency, and respect.
