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Well, that's a first...
02-15-2016, 01:07 AM
15 minutes ago, Peggy and I were an hour into a showing of "Deadpool" when some idiot decides to pull the fire alarm. I've never had to evacuate a theatre before, least of all in 20-degree weather (F). But we're back in the theatre and waiting for the film to resume now.
BTW, so far "Deadpool" is a lot of fun.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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I've been evacuated from a cinema before. It was many years ago at a small local cinema, I think it was Robin Hood prince of thieves which will give you the time frame (I'm too lazy to check), There was a real incident (from my now vague memory it was something like the projector overheating) but everyone was evacuated safely and I never saw any smoke. We were let back in after a while to see the end of the film and I don't remember seeing any fire trucks turning up so it couldn't have been too serious an incident.
Mark
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Yeah, theater projectors require some serious light and use some of the most powerful lamps in the world - so powerful they usually require two dedicated vents to the outside to keep everything from burning up: one for the lightbox and the other for the projection assembly. They're also pretty good about keeping fire extinguishers close at hand because film burns up pretty easily. They probably had a small projector fire but the projectionist got to it fairly quickly - enough that the damage was limited to the projector alone, and all heat and smoke was drawn out through the vents.
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Haven't they gone to digital screening about 20 years back? Because of that issue among other things?
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Into terror!, Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell
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No, that was about two years back. Up until then they were still largely using film, even for 3D films.
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The stuff film is (or at least used to be) made from is a form of nitrocellulose. The more strongly nitrated variant of this substance is known as gun cotton.
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"Used to be" is correct. Movie film hasn't been flammable/explosive in decades.
Oh, and we were in a digital theatre. Not that it matters.
Oh, and go see Deadpool if you haven't yet. Great stuff.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
