Repeater Fire in my Hometown is Quickly Extinguished

Recently, my ham shack experienced a wiring overload that resulted in loss of power to all my radio gear.

Since I serve as net control for the region 5 traffic net, I sent the net administrator an e-mail briefly explaining my predicament and informing him I’d be unable to call the net.

What I told him: I told him I had an overload that caused the wiring to overheat and I lost power. I also specifically wrote, “I did not have a fire”.


That evening I was doing the dishes when the phone rang. A local ham who participated in the afternoon’s net was on the line. He started telling me he heard about my fire and asked if I was alright.

Immediately, I understood what happened. I told him I didn’t have a fire, then asked if it was out on the local repeater that I did. The caller coyly answered yeah.

I went into panic mode!  Thinking that I should have been monitoring the 'in-the-house' 2 meter rig all day, I quickly turned it on and put that 'fire' out!  I think the guys on the repeater sounded more releived than I to learn I didn't have a fire after all.

One thing I know, if certain hams in my area thought I lost all my gear in a fire, they’d start showing up on my doorstep, equipment in hand, saying, “here“… And I wouldn’t want them wasting a trip.

It’s kind of funny that issues can get blown out of proportion and quickly spread around in the world of amateur radio.