After filing for its construction permit on July 17, 1961,[1] KSOM went on the air March 12, 1962,[2] from studios and transmitter at 2126 S. Alvernon Way in Tucson, broadcasting 12 hours a day.
[5] On the night of May 4, 1963, David Paladin, the station's program director, was anchoring a late newscast at about 11:45 p.m. when he noticed a "big blanket of smoke" drift into the studio.
After asking listeners to call the fire department, he signed the station off and fled the building; he would be treated for smoke inhalation.
In November 1964, the FCC granted a construction permit to move to 92.9 FM and change station classes from A to C, with 38,000 watts of effective radiated power;[7] these facilities were never built.
KSOM operated through most of 1965, though it twice suffered thefts at its Alvernon Way transmitter facility, in which tape recorders were stolen in May and in September.