FILM CATCHES FIRE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 57, 29 October 1931, Page 3

FILM CATCHES FIRE

MATINEE EXCITEMENT YOUTHFUL AUDIENCE AT MAJESTIC THEATRE ALARMED ORDER QUICKLY RESTORED Considerable excitement was caused among the children who largely composed the' audience at the matinee at the Majestic Theatre yesterday afternoon a little after 3-30 o'clock when the picture being sereened suddenly appeared to break up and a momentary flicker of red light, ohviously caused by fire, was thrown on the screen. A rush toward the main exit by the more nervous children was cheeked almost before it had started by a stentorian male voice whieh commande.d them to return to their seats, and whieh was promptly oheyed. For some moments the audience sat expectantly awaiting developments, while the only sign of anything unusual was a crackling and roaring from the sound system whieh some of the audience appeared to find a little upsetting. The next deyelopment was the filteripg into the atmosphere of the smell of burning eelluloid, followed by another brief but somewhat lurid flicker of reflected light from the flames. This proved too much for most of the audience in tlie stalls and a movement whieh developed into a mild rush, was again made for the main exits. This time the efforts of the theatre staff were directed merely to controlling the movQment and those who desired, left the theatre without difficulty.

No Danger to Audience At no time was there any danger to the audience as not only is the operating box itself fire proof, but the film on the maehine is also enclosed in fireproof containers, except a few inches behind the' refleetor. The fire was apparently caused by a stoppage of the maehine, the powerful carbon arc light setting fire to the stationary film. The spool containers on the maehine are provided with safety traps, but the flames somehow spread to the upper spool and destroy-

ed between 500 and 600 feet of film. j The automatic drop slides in front j of the ports through whieh the picture 1 is shown were promptly shut and the j room closed up to keep out the air, j thus making it impossible for the fire j to spread. j An alarm was sent by phone to the fire station and the brigade was quick- ! ly on the scene. A lead was turned : into the box and the fire was promtly j extinguished. Several attempts were then made j by the firemen to enter the box to j make an inspection but each time I they were foreed to retire owing to i the dense smoke and suffocating fum es from the burnt film. j Gas Mask Used Superintendent T. Anderson, then brought the newly purehased gas mask into use and entered the box to find that the fire was out and that everything was safe. Members of the! brigade, however, waited- for a time | until they were eonvinced that there was no ehance of a further outbreak. The theatre operator, Mr. Ivan Henry, then donned the gas mask and entered the box to salvage the main j picture, "Africa Spealcs," whieh had not yet been shown- It was found to I be intact and the spools were sent to j the Grand Theatre where the remaind- ; er of the programme was shown. The only film that was damaged was the cartoon whieh was being shown when the fire started. On an inspection being made after the smoke and fumes had cleared it was discovered that little damage had been done to the apparatus by the fire, whieh had been eonfined to the upper spool case, practically no flames escaping. Everything was drenched with water whieh had flowed into the generator eellor beneath and flooded it to a depth of nearly five inches. Beyond the destruction of 500 or 600 feet of film, little damage was done, and what loss there was was covered by insurance. On being questioned afterwards as to the effectiveness of the new gas mask, Superintendent Anderson said that it was completely satisfactory and that breathing was not hampered in the least. He added'that the occasion had been an exeellent test for the mask and he had no fault to find with it.