Ostankino Television Tower

This guide to the Ostankino Television Tower in Moscow centers on August 27, 2000, an ordinary day above Moscow until a short circuit sparked deep in the tower's feeder cables near the very top. It follows the fire crews called to a broadcasting tower unlike any other, built by engineer Nikolai Nikitin in 1967 as the tallest freestanding structure on earth, strung with steel ropes instead of a rigid skeleton. Listen for how quickly the region's television and radio signals began going dark that afternoon.