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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: What's that noise... Oh, it sounds like the Fire Alarm...
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Jim Alexander
Film Handler
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Posts: 71
From: Greenwood, Nova Scotia, Canada
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-30-2004 09:03 PM
Not sure if this topic has been broached, but tonight we had a fire alarm sound off at my theatre. Being it was my day off, I was at home enjoying a nice peaceful evening when the phone rang. One of my staff was kind enough to call and tell me that the fire alarm had sounded and there were police and fire fighters all over the place.
By the time I got to the theatre all the "unpaid" guests had left after determining one of the smoke/heat detectors had given a false alarm. Staff told me that the alarm had gone off 20 minutes into the show and it was shut down and lights turned on so that customers could vacate orderly.
The question I have is what do other theatres do in a case like this. Seeing as there were only 40 customers to this show, I decided to offer a free small pop and small popcorn to everyone. The show was restarted and everyone was happy. Being the owner of a single screen, I have this luxury, however, if the show had been delayed to long, I'm not sure what I would have done. The priority is to keep the customer happy and the books balanced, but to what level?
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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler
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Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-31-2004 09:07 AM
As any multi-plex manager knows, fire alarms, when proven false, are the most difficult situations to handle.
MOst importantly, it is imperative to get everyone out to a safe area, be it in the main lobby or outside. A good Fire Alarm panel will tell you exactly where the trouble is so that you can investigate the nature of the alarm.. FOr whatever reasons, our booth was not req'd to have automatic shutdowns tied into the fire alarm system, but I know that many booths do. When we have an alarm, I have an operator quickly go thru and stop all shows. I have asst's and doormen go thru and help people exit the auditoriums and/or building. I personally (when present) investigate into what wnet wrong where and either silence the alarm and do a system reset or follow up by getting everyone out of the building. Fortunately, all alarms have been false.
How to hanlde patrons is another story all in itself. Most patrons are fine with a 15-20 minute delay. Those that are not get refund tickets or cash back if they leave. There are *always* those that feel they are entitled to both refund passes AND cash back AND still be allowed to watch teh show after the delay. I always want to ask if they bumped their head, but I don't. Acccidents DO happen. I think that a resonable person should be willing to accept that fact. I love it when there is a really bad electrical storm which knocks the power out briefly... and people want to know what I'm going to do about it. I like to say that I'm going to cross my fingers and hope the power comes back on quickly.. or that I'm going to phone God up and ask that he quit playing with nature for the sake of their movie... but I don't.
In all seriousness, any time you have a fire alarm go off, it is VERY IMPORTANT that it be treated as if there were an actaul fire present. The one time you don't will prove to be the time you are wrong. Personal, Employee & Patron safety are all paramount and should be placed above anything else. The building and it's contents are insured for such perils. Life is not as easily replaced and/or rebuilt.
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Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler
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Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 02-02-2004 09:35 AM
At my first theater, we had some wise-ass teenagers grab the fire extinguisher in one of the auditoriums, and ran around spraying it in the air. The dust from the extinguisher set off the fire alarm, and naturally everyone came out... to find the hallways full of the extinguisher dust... thought it was smoke... and FREAKED OUT!
The ushers ran in the auditorium and naturally, grabbed the extinguisher looking for the fire. One guy runs up to the booth to see if it's something up there. Instead of getting out and getting the people out, the staff is running around looking for the fire...
Police and firefighters had arrived before I knew the whole story, and they had the kids who supposedly did it. But they had no proof. The fire extinguisher had the employees' prints on it, and the few people that were in that auditorium either already left with their refund, or went into the other screen showing the movie after they all restarted.
The only people left who actually saw the kids do it was a man and his 8-year-old son, who said they don't want to get involved and just wanted to finish their movie. The kid seemed distraught by the whole incident. SO, the police threaten the customer with obstruction of justice!! The customer throws a fit, grabs his kid and leaves.
The perpetrators' parents arrived later and had a nice long talk with the cops from what I heard. But if the kids are that bad already, I doubt they're getting the required dose of discipline at home.
Lesson for the day: Follow procedures and keep the brain spasms to a minimum.
=TMP=
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
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Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 02-02-2004 10:44 AM
Reminds me of an incident described in a fire safety lecture, the moral of the story being 'always read the instructions, however obvious it may seem.' This was when fire extinguishers were pretty new, and it wasn't common knowledge that you had to pull the safety pin out. The fire brigade arrived at the scene of a fire in a departure lounge at Heathrow Airport. They discovered that the place was pretty much gutted, and near the seat of the blaze were about 20 fire extinguishers which were charred, blackened and dented, but which had not been discharged.
What had happened was that the first person to see the fire, an airport security guard, had grabbed the nearest extinguisher, aimed it at the seat of the blaze and pulled the trigger. Because the safety pin was still in place, nothing happened. Thinking that it was jammed and faulty, he then threw the extinguisher into the fire; his rationale being that it would eventually rupture in the heat and release its contents. A crowd of onlookers saw this. They assumed that someone in uniform must know what he's doing, so they all ran round the terminal collecting extinguishers - and threw those at the fire, too!
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