Exhibitor's Trade Review (Nov 1925 - Feb 1926)

December 26, 1925 Page 65 THEATRE FIRES Their Cause and Prevention A pronounced tendency exists, throughout the United States, to tighten up on building codes generally and to place increasing severe restrictions on all classes of large buildings in which people congregate. It seems that the occasional fire in a public or semipublic building which results in injury or death for a few people arouses several times as much public resentment as the tremendously greater casualty toll for which the automobile is responsible. Among legislative authorities the impression seems widely prevalent that motion picture theatre fires are needlessly numerous and that the film hazard is several times as great as it really is. There can be no denial, and should be no attempt at it, of the need of every reasonable safeguard in connection with the use of inflammable film, but the dangers of celluloid fires should not be permitted to blind the owners of theatres or the authorities who exercise supervision over them, to the presence of other hazards that require very nearly as much watchful supervision. The very presence of large crowds of people in confined areas brings into existence a definite and large unavoidable fire hazard, and one that has grown surprisingly in the last ten years because of the rapid increase in the use of cigarettes, now known as one of the most prolific causes of fires in all sorts of buildings. This variety of hazard can be met only by providing the best possible fire-protection equipment which can be relied on to put out incipient blazes and by exercising the closest possible supervision to prevent the lawless use of cigarettes where they are likely to start fires. One rule should be enforced with unfailing rigidity: The smoking of cigarettes in projection rooms ought everywhere to be valid cause for a projectionist's summary discharge. Anyone who is party to creating a hazard of such character, with its terrible possibilities of loss of life and property, deserves no consideration whatever. But the projectionists are in position to answer that bad splicing and subsequent negligent inspection of prints are far more common causes of projection room fires than any delinquency of theirs. And in this the experience of most small houses will bear them out. Unfortunately, too, it is the small houses, paying minimum prices for pictures, where the greatest structural fire hazard exists. Thest theatres more or less habitually receive their prints on a schedule that does not permit of inspection before running, and as habitually get into trouble through lack of adequate inspection at the exchange. Once the fire prevention authorities of the country begin to realize that blazes attributable to this sort of thing are blamable on the exchanges and not on the theatres, there is likely to be a clamping down of responsibility that will retire a good many thousands of prints before they become a real menace. There are, however, two very common causes of fires for which theatre operators can be held responsible, along with most other classes of business men. The first and foremost is the presence anywhere on the premises of rubbish accumulations. The very first step in fire prevention is the abolition of all accumulations of inflammable stuff that can be disposed of from day to day, which reduces itself to a matter of regular daily inspection of the premises, plus such work as may be necessary to get rid of the stuff. The second cause is the practice of allowing oily waste to accumulate in projection room, boiler room or any place where cotton waste is used. Every such place should be provided with approved covered waste cans and the practice of keeping used waste elsewhere than in such cans should be vigorously discouraged. Reverting to the cigarette as an habitual offender, one of the common causes of theatre fires is the throwing away of lighted fags which land on carpets or woodwork. Even a casual inspection of the premises after the audience is entirely out at closing time would prevent many fires of this character, and it is well to remember that fires of such origin usually remain undiscovered until they have reached such magnitude as to be difficult to extinguish, if not altogether out of control. The tabulation that follows, based on information compiled by the National Fire Protection Association, of Boston, Mass., will be found helpful in analyzing causes of theatre fires and arriving at methods of protection, and also, in some cases, in guiding the deliberations of constructors of building codes whbi are overly impressed with the importance of the film hazard: (Continued on page 67) Interior Decoration (Continued from page 62) colors on account of the gray color used on the side walls of the theatre behind the boxes. The mural decorations depict scenes taken from the days of Beau Brummel. The Colony The architect has judiciously grouped the lobby, foyer and promenade leading into a spacious auditorium with its ornate balcony swinging in a delicate curve from the boxes and proscenium arch, and moulded the surfaces in a conservative adaptation of the late Renaissance of Northern Europe. A constant effort was made to create a sedate atmosphere of restfulness and refinement. The lobby with its raised ceiling toned in gold and subdued colors makes the transition from Broadway to the foyer. A large paneled wainscoting of Circassian walnut carries the eye from a richly carpeted floor to the balcony ceiling. Here the architectural divisions have been enhanced by various light tones of ivory and buff, accentuated by small portions of color laid in gold relief. The upper portions of the arched divisions directly above the lobby' doors contain a group of mirrorswhich reflect the luminous arched passage leading to the balcony. Black and gold marble steps with the balustrade of marble and wrought metal lead from both sides of the rear to this upper promenade. The ceilings here are treated in tones of warm gray and cream enriched with polychrome gold relief. The two large tapestries in the stair approach add additional life and color to the rich quality of the entrance. The panels of the auditorium walls above the wainscoting are treated in a soft cream framed with golden shaded mouldings. The style member is of "cafe au lait" tone sufficiently strong to give a pleasant transition to the main ceiling. This ceiling is treated with a soft blending of various shades of warm and cool buff colors and enriched with large circular panels with polychrome gold relief. The ornamentation of the balcony and the box fronts is enriched with gold and soft colors.