Courtesy Photo The transmitter building in Atlanta that transmitted WCMU Public Media’s radio and television broadcasts is seen burned down on Wednesday in this photo by Mark Brown of WCMU.

ATLANTA — On Wednesday, WCMU’s transmitting building went off the air after catching on fire and burning down completely.

That will impact coverage in Northeast Michigan from the public radio and television station based out of Central Michigan University, as WCML 91.7 FM and TV channel 6 remain down.

Firefighters say the fire started in the building’s generator room.

According to Mike Horace, radio program and operations manager of WCMU, the fire left nothing salvageable, and the media organization will need to rebuild the station from scratch.

WCMU leaders expect the station will remain off the air for several months as WCMU works hard with its suppliers, licensors, and other officials to build a new structure.

“WCMU remains committed to providing television and radio programming to the northern Michigan community,” Horace said. “We are working hard to bring our services back to Northeast Michigan, and we thank you for listening.”

Horace was unsure of how long the rebuild may take but said WCMU will provide further updates when more information becomes available.

On Wednesday, broadcasting of 103.9 FM Harbor Springs also went down, but WCMU’s engineering staff was able to restore its programming.

Listeners in Northeast Michigan may still be able to listen to WCMU on 103.9 FM, 95.7 FM, 96.9 FM, and 98.3 FM to receive news from the media station. Listeners can also listen on the WCMU app, the National Public Radio app, and by asking a smart speaker to play WCMU or play WCMU Classical.

Viewers affected by the outage can watch WCMU PBS on its website, radio.wcmu.org, or on the WCMU app and PBS app.

WCMU is also still broadcasting on cable and satellite systems in Northeast Michigan.