ABC News Breakfast was abruptly cut off mid-program on Friday morning as staff were forced to evacuate its Melbourne studios.
Co-hosts Michael Rowland and Bridget Brennan were wrapping up an interview with an author when they were ordered to flee the studio while live on air.
‘We have to go, there’s a fire emergency,’ a crew member off-camera was heard telling the pair.
Rowland began explaining what was going on to viewers – before the broadcast suddenly cut off.
‘Now we’re dealing with a few things behind the scenes here,’ Rowland explained before programming switched to an ad.
Programming resumed shortly afterwards with the broadcaster’s News Mornings program.
Rowland later took to X to explain the chaos.
‘So, we had to evacuate the studio in the final half hour of News Breakfast because of a fire alarm in the ABC Melbourne building. Everyone is safe and the emergency is over,’ he tweeted.
He also shared a video outside with his co-hosts, where a fire truck was spotted in the background.
‘Bit of a manic morning,’ he said.
‘Fire crews are inside looking at the situation but we don’t think it’s serious.’
Brennan added: ‘We very grateful to the firies who got here super quick, we got out of the studio quickly.’
Co-hosts Michael Rowland and Bridget Brennan were forced to disrupt their broadcast
Weather presenter Nate Byrne suggested that the alarm may have been sparked by burnt toast.
The video ended with a firefighter giving presenter a thumbs-up as he walked out of the building.
Daily Mail has contacted ABC for comment.