Fumes Interrupt Nexstar Station's Newscast

Last Thursday, viewers tuning into the start of Nexstar’s KTXL (Sacramento) saw and heard Anchor Nikki Laurenzo coughing and having difficulty reading her scripts. Here’s video off the top of the show.

A station insider tells FTVLive, “Many started smelling chemicals in the last half hour of our 6 pm show. It just kept getting stronger and stronger. By the 7 pm show the odor had reached the control room and studio and employees were coughing non stop, their eyes were watering and some said they were feeling light headed.”

Sources say Laurenzo was taken off the air as she was having difficulty with the fumes. An internal message sent to the staff.

Not long after, the station’s 7PM newscast was taken off the air and a replacement show started running.

It appears the fumes were paint and a part of the station was being painted while employees were still working.

Here is a portion of an email sent by KTXL General Manager Cathy Gunther to the staff about the incident.