eFortSmith.com | Talking Up A Storm: Fred Baker

When the skies cloud up, the lightning flashes and the thunder rumbles, admit it: you turn to 93.7 FM to hear what Fred Baker has to say about the threatening weather.

And on the night of April 21, 1996, after a powerfully destructive tornado wreaked havoc across downtown Fort Smith and struck even harder atop Van Buren's Mount Vista neighborhood, his was the first voice on the air talking about what had happened, delivering key news about emergency help and even finding the few notes of humor in a dire situation. Fred's voice comforted a lot of listeners through that terrifying, stormy night and his vivid broadcasts described the human side of the story all through the following days of recovery.

Only the owner, founder and jack-of-all-radio-trades could have jerry-rigged his signal back onto the air after the storm knocked out the studio's power.

Fred had been on the air already, preparing to warn listeners when the studio went dark – and silent. It was obvious that something dreadful had happened.

"I raced home, almost hit a tree on Greenwood that was down in the road," he recalled. "My wife, Kim, had been watching from the roof of our house and said she was sure a tornado had hit downtown.We drove down B Street to 6th and there was debris all over, but it was dark."

When they reached the river, they could see a car overturned on the Garrison Avenue bridge. A policeman, set to wave the car away, recognized Fred. "He shined a big flashlight over the buildings," Fred recalled. "I'll never forget the wreckage, the rubble covering the street."

"I ran over to the 911 center and barged in the door saying, 'Guys, where are the calls coming from?' and they told me Van Buren," Fred said.

He picked his way back to the darkened station, determined to get back on the air to give what assistance he could. Only days before, the station's gas-powered generator had been stolen from its porch.

"I was kicking myself for not replacing it already," Fred said. "Our transmitter was on the air – its generator was working. But how could I get on the air?"

Improvising with a car battery, a transformer and what he called "a junky disco control board," Fred scrounged enough wattage to get his audio back on the air.

It was that same kind of determination that drove Fred to put KISR 93.7 on the air in the first place, against unlikely odds.
In 1971, when Fred was a sophomore at Notre Dame University, he was already scheming to own a radio a station. Studying FCC licensing bulletins, he discovered a fateful discrepancy between an older and current version: a 100,000-watt signal was available in Fort Smith, Ark. With a little research, he found that the signal's availability would appear again in the next FCC publication.

It was currently available. Fred hoped he was the only one who knew it.

Fort Smith was his mother's hometown, a place he spent every summer living with his grandparents on Belle Avenue.

"I felt like I'd found a valuable oversight," he said. "I left Notre Dame to come to Fort Smith to apply for 93.7." He sweated out the application process, based on operating it from a house and tower location on Old Greenwood Road, and got the license.

"The day I got it, the house sold!" he said. "So I moved to Greenwood Avenue to my own house. To save money, I put the antenna on a telephone pole."

The station was in the front three rooms and Fred lived in the back.

"The rules were that the operator had to be able to see the meters at all time," he recalled. "They didn't say he had to be awake!"

Page 2 – A New Sound in Fort Smith radio

March 2008 Fred Baker: Talking up a Storm He's audacious, locquacious, "live and local." But there's more to KISR's owner than meets the ear. When the skies cloud up, the lightning flashes and the thunder rumbles, admit it: you turn to 93.7 FM to hear what Fred Baker has to say about the threatening weather. And on the night of April 21, 1996, after a powerfully destructive tornado wreaked havoc across downtown Fort Smith and struck even harder atop Van Buren's Mount Vista neighborhood, his was the first voice on the air talking about what had happened, delivering key news about emergency help and even finding the few notes of humor in a dire situation. Fred's voice comforted a lot of listeners through that terrifying, stormy night and his vivid broadcasts described the human side of the story all through the following days of recovery. Only the owner, founder and jack-of-all-radio-trades could have jerry-rigged his signal back onto the air after the storm knocked out the studio's power. Fred had been on the air already, preparing to warn listeners when the studio went dark – and silent. It was obvious that something dreadful had happened. "I raced home, almost hit a tree on Greenwood that was down in the road," he recalled. "My wife, Kim, had been watching from the roof of our house and said she was sure a tornado had hit downtown.We drove down B Street to 6th and there was debris all over, but it was dark." When they reached the river, they could see a car overturned on the Garrison Avenue bridge. A policeman, set to wave the car away, recognized Fred. "He shined a big flashlight over the buildings," Fred recalled. "I'll never forget the wreckage, the rubble covering the street." "I ran over to the 911 center and barged in the door saying, 'Guys, where are the calls coming from?' and they told me Van Buren," Fred said. He picked his way back to the darkened station, determined to get back on the air to give what assistance he could. Only days before, the station's gas-powered generator had been stolen from its porch. "I was kicking myself for not replacing it already," Fred said. "Our transmitter was on the air – its generator was working. But how could I get on the air?" Improvising with a car battery, a transformer and what he called "a junky disco control board," Fred scrounged enough wattage to get his audio back on the air. It was that same kind of determination that drove Fred to put KISR 93.7 on the air in the first place, against unlikely odds. In 1971, when Fred was a sophomore at Notre Dame University, he was already scheming to own a radio a station. Studying FCC licensing bulletins, he discovered a fateful discrepancy between an older and current version: a 100,000-watt signal was available in Fort Smith, Ark. With a little research, he found that the signal's availability would appear again in the next FCC publication. It was currently available. Fred hoped he was the only one who knew it. Fort Smith was his mother's hometown, a place he spent every summer living with his grandparents on Belle Avenue. "I felt like I'd found a valuable oversight," he said. "I left Notre Dame to come to Fort Smith to apply for 93.7." He sweated out the application process, based on operating it from a house and tower location on Old Greenwood Road, and got the license. "The day I got it, the house sold!" he said. "So I moved to Greenwood Avenue to my own house. To save money, I put the antenna on a telephone pole." The station was in the front three rooms and Fred lived in the back. "The rules were that the operator had to be able to see the meters at all time," he recalled. "They didn't say he had to be awake!" *Page 2 – A New Sound in Fort Smith radio* Copyright © 2008 eFortSmith Media.com, Incorporated, P.O. Box 1341, Fort Smith, AR 72902 efortsmith.com and Entertainment Fort Smith are registered trademarks. All rights reserved. HOME	This article appears in the March 2008 issue of Entertainment Fort Smith Magazine

He's audacious, locquacious, "live and local." But there's more to KISR's owner than meets the ear.

He's audacious, locquacious, "live and local."
But there's more to KISR's owner than meets the ear.