A radio studio in Lewiston, Idaho, the home for 1350 KRLC(AM) for nearly 80 years, was burned down Thursday as part of a fire training exercise.
The studio stood on the corner of Thain Road and Stewart Ave. in Lewiston and, until 2023, was the broadcast location for 106.9 KMOK(FM), 105.1 KVTY(FM) and both the studio and tower for the now silent KRLC, which was the longest-running station in the Lewiston area.
Lewiston sits at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers, in an area of northern Idaho near the Washington border, sometimes referred to as the “quad cities,” along with Moscow, Pullman and Clarkston, Wash.
Darlene Lambert, a reporter for Nelly Broadcasting’s Big Country News, said that smoke from the fire on Thursday could be seen as far away as Clarkston Heights. Spectators gathered at an adjacent parking lot.
According to area historian Steven Branting’s book, “Our Fruitful Dreams,” the building’s history in northern Idaho radio dates back to 1947. KRLC originally received a license to begin broadcasting on 1390 AM in 1935. In 1947, the Thain and Stewart site was purchased, and that’s where both KRLC’s studio and tower would reside.
The site was purchased in 2023 by Steve Carlton, the owner of a local construction company, after McVey Entertainment Group moved the stations to its Snake River Ave. studio location. McVey Entertainment took KRLC silent in 2023.
Carlton told KLEW(TV) that the Lewiston Fire Department had been using the building as a training ground. The fire department asked if they could eventually burn it down, and given its current condition, he gave the firefighters the go-ahead. He told KLEW that former staffers of the stations at the location would often stop by.
The stations that were housed there were part of the former IdaVend Broadcasting, which was locally owned by Robert and Melva Prasil of Lewiston, and Gary and Cheri Prasil of Asotin.
The Prasils bought KRLC and KMOK from Pat MacKelvie in 1981. MacKelvie purchased the station from Don Thomas, one of its original members, in 1971. Thomas took over the management of KRLC in 1945, according to Branting, who said he was one of the station’s most recognizable personalities in its early days.
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