The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

334 MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 4, 1926 How To Make Your Theatre Fire Proof Binghamton, N. Y., Manager Urges That Safety Campaign Be Carried Into the Theatre — Says Employes Should Be Carefully Drilled for Emergency By Epes W. Sargent DVERTING to the recent drive on fire prevention in the, film exchanges, H. M. Addison, General Manager of the Binghamton (N. Y.) Theatre Company, Inc., makes the suggestion that it rhight be well to carry the agitation into the theatre. One extract from his letter will show that he practices well what he preaches. The excerpt runs. The holiday season Is approaching. Our employees are all very busy, not only with their work, but their personal affairs, and they give little attention to protection. During the past week I have sent for the Fire Marshal and had him make a complete inspection of all doors, exits, boilers, etc. You ask, "Why the Fire Marshal? WTiy not have them taken care of by your own man?" For the reason that the Fire Marshal Is much more strict and will find more fault and is better versed in seeing the defective points than the man who is on the premises every day. Of course, you must be sure that your Fire Marshal is not erratic and will not plunge your organization Into unnecessary expense. It would seem policy at this time of year that all managers, especially in the smaller towns and in towns wliere the theatres are not as modern as they might be, to have a reissue of orders relative to the protection of patrons and property. Of course, in a town where a man is Fire Marshal merely because he is popular in the volunteer department, this procedure would be unwise and, as Mr. Addison points out, it will be inadvisable in a town where the Marshal is a hobby-riding fanatic, but where your Fire Marshal is intelligent and sympathetic, the advice is excellent. Recall Fire Scare Mr. Addison has had years of experience on the road as well as in residential capacities, and it is not to be understood that he is drawing upon his experiences in Binghamton for his material. That would be unfair to his circuit and himself, but he has picked up from his wide experience many useful suggestions, and he puts his finger on the root of most trouble when he says : "Every house manager is more or less interested in protecting his patrons and property. About the first thing he does when he takes over a property is to work out some sort of fire drill. His instructions are carefully followed for a time, but as other matters engross his attention, he lets the responsibility rest with others, and presently, through disuse and the changes in personnel, the original orders are entirely forgotten." Thirty years ago there was a fire scare in New York City and this writer was assigrned to ascertain what, if any, precautions were taken in every theatre in the city. It was a simpler matter in those times than it would be today. One or two managers flatly refused to reply. Most of the others confessed that they had given the matter little thought. In only one theatre ; a burlesque house on the Bowery, was there a regular drill and here the manager, the late James Donaldson, had been a member of the old Volunteer Department. Most managers pointed out that they complied with the then lax fire laws, and thought nothing else required. Several years later the Iroquois Theatre fire, in Chicago, startled the country. At that time this writer was with a chain of New York houses. Half an hour after the extras appeared the General Manager came in on the dead run, and the stage crews worked all night in every house to be able to face the inevitable inspection, which came early the following morning. For two or three months the house and stage crews were put through a drill before the house opened for the matinee, but in six months the matter had been forgotten again. The fire drill should be worked every day, and if for any reason there is any delay, the house should be held closed for an additional five minutes for the drill. How to Drill Help Each usher should be assigned a post; some to open the exit doors (even though they will open automatically under pressure from within), and the doors should be opened and not merely posted. The doorman should clear the front doors, the electrician should be at the House lights switches and the other stage hands rehearse their respective parts. The orchestra should be drilled into playing a certain quickstep so that when the alarm comes they almost automatically A scene from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production "The Fire Brigade" swing into that one selection. And the entire planning of the drill should have for its thought the fact that the great danger is not from the fire itself, but from the audience panic. We do not recall a single instance in the past thirty-five years in which theatre fatalities have been directly due to the fire. The trouble has come from the crowd itself, generally through tripping and piling up. A stafT trained to meet this condition can do much to avert a panic. Mr. Addison cites one instance in which a theatre had been for two years without any person who understood the sprinkler system. The alarm had been out of order for two years, and there was no one who knew how to turn off the water in case one of the sprinkler heads let go. At the time of installation the maintenance man had been carefully instructed, and for some years everything was well handled. Then he left the job, without instructing his successor, and thousands of dollars damage might have been done before the water could be shut off. This may be an extreme case, but it is an actual one. In Mr. Addison's own scheme, he lays particular stress on a quick alarm. Any employee discovering trouble of any sort which is liable to alarm the patrons, has instructions to go to the nearest house phone and signal the stage with four rings. The stage manager immediately throws the house lights full on and repeats the signal to the orchestra, which goes at once into lively music. The alarm is then relayed to the manager's office. Keep Employees Alert Of course each house will require a specific treatment to meet local conditions, but there is one rule that is hard and fast. Promise to club the head off any employee who in responding to the drill sets a bad example to the patrons by dashing madly to his station. The alert employee can move briskly down the aisle without seeming to run. Start an exploration of your house today. See what is needed. Get the help of your fire authorities in organizing a drill, and have that drill every day. And remember that a hole in the carpet, a torn stair runner, a lobby overfull of frames, a nervous orchestra leader or panicky ushers are far greater fire hazards than the actual flames. No modern theatre can burn so quickly that the audience cannot make its exit leisurely. The danger comes with the panic, and nothing will allay a panic as quickly as spirited music, opened doors and cool-headed ushers. It will not hurt to get the Fire Chief or the Marshal, to drop in now and then to give the entire staff a talking to. You can talk yourself black in the face without making half the impression the man in uniform can create in a ten minute chat. You may even have to tell the Chief what you want him to say. When you get newspaper stories of fire scares in which some cool-headed employee averts a panic, post these v/here the staff can read. It will sink in and may bear fruit at a time when cool-headed action is desperately needed. And make a right start by hiring people who look as though they can keep their heads. The high pressure usher who can seat ten parties while the other aisle is haadling six may be a wonder until the crisis comes, but the nervous energy which is his chief commendation may prove literally fatal in an emergency. Fire prevention is not merely a matter of plenty of hose, exit lights, extinguishers and the like. Count in the human equation. That counts for most.