Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-31
FIRES IN LOCAL THEArERs.
Incidents Recalled by the Terrible Dis
astsr in Chicago.


aster in Chicago.
In interviews with a reporter for The
Star today Chief Engineer Belt of the fire
department and Fire Marshal Sidney Bieber
spoke interestingly of the Chicago theater
disaster and also with regard to conditions
in this city.
Chief Belt declared that in his opinion II
the asbestos curtain had been properly
dropped in the front of the stage the num-
Der of fatalities would have been greatly
reduced.
However, on account of the panic" said
Chief Belt there would have been prob
ably many people killed In the wild scram-
bic Of the occupants Of the theater to get
been dropped. In cases Of fires IN theaters
eight out OF every ten people lose their
lives by first being suffocated.
Il have Witnessed the burning OF six
dence here. but fortunately there were no
performances In progress when the fires
occurred. -Four Of these occurred In the
National Theater. The first fire remem-
1887, when I was just youngster. The
old National Theater caught fire at that
time. Later. in the sixties. the National
Theater again caught fire and during that
In the seventies. I don't remember the
exact dates, the National was destroyed by
flames and the old Oxford, now the En-
pire, burned to the ground.
In the case OF the Oxford Theater, the
blaze was discovered quite early In the
progress Of the confiagration. and the whole
department was called out. The fire was
apparently extinguished and the firemen
withdrew. Later in the night, however, the
wind famed into flames some OF the smok--
ing embers and the whole building was
RACED by the flames.
The Last Fire at National.
''The last fire in the National occurred in
March of 1885. That blaze was disastrous
and a number of firemen barely escaped
with their lives. I was at the theater q
few moments after the flames were discov-
cred. I went to the door Of the auditorium
and looked In, and never before saw such q
blaze or heard such q roaring. The whole
interior was a mass of lurid flames.
L went to the pavement and told the fore
man to get the men out of the place or we
would all be killed. The men were ordered
to the site of the present Lawrence Hotel.
and we had scarcely moved away from
the burning theater when the whole struc-
ture fell in The roof and walls fell within
twenty minutes after the fire was discov-
cred.
LAS an instance Of the danger from smoke
and fumes, might cite the fire which oc-
Cured not long ago in a local hospital
One of the patients smoking his pipe on
the sly heard the nurse coming and slipped
the lighted pipe In q bureau drawer.
THE piece of furniture was soon in
blaze. and from that little conflagratio
which caused damage of less than $50, a
number Of patients and nurses were nearly
suffocated. and the fumes and smoke per-
meated the whole building in a remarkably
short time"
No Occasion for Alarm.
Fire Marshal Bieber stated that in his
opinion there is no need for the people of
Washington to be alarmed with respect to
the condition of the local theaters.
"Of course" said the fire marshal. some
unforeseen catastrophe might occur in any
theater or public place, in any city. but the
department of Washington is certainly
using every precaution to safeguard the
public against possible disaster.
The people of the city do not realize the
watchfulness that Is exercised by the fire
department officials"
Mr.. Bieber states that he visits one or
the other of the local theaters every night.
A fireman of experience is stationed behind
the scenes at each performance, and the
stages are provided with hose with con-
nections on either side of the stage and
also on each floor of the fly gallery. On
the stage also are chemical fire extinguish-
ers, ceiling hooks, standard pickaxes. &C.
Each stage is also equipped with an as
bcstOs curtain, which is frequently dropped
In order to insure that it will operate
easily in case of an emergency. The exit
ugnIS are Always kept nghted ana are
never turned off, not even during dark
scenes.
The use of matches on the stage is care
fully guarded, in fact, the dressing rooms
and all parts back of the stage are patrol
led by the fireman to see that the rules with
regard to this precaution are not violated
No smoking in the dressing rooms Is per-
mitted under any circumstances. All the
exit doors swing outward and they are
never padlocked, but are kept in such con-
dition as to be easily opened.