Radio station's novelty toaster causes evacuation

A novelty toaster today triggered a mass evacuation from a seven-floor office block building in Ballsbridge.

The FM104 kitchen appliance, which burns the radio station’s logo onto slices of bread, malfunctioned and set off fire alarms in Hume House.

Scores of staff in firms like AIB, Bank of Ireland, the IRFU and the Department of Agriculture had to be evacuated onto the street for several minutes.

FM104 immediately apologised for the inconvenience to employees in the building.

It said its Strawberry Alarm Clock breakfast show team was testing out the new branded toaster around 9.30am when it began smoking.

Smoke detectors in the radio station were activated and subsequently triggered alarm bells throughout the seven storey building.

Presenters Jim McCabe and Niamh Crowley said: “We had only managed to do two slices before the alarm went off.”