New Haven, CT Rialto Theatre House Fire, Nov 1921 - Theatre Burns, part 2

Theatre Packed to Capacity.

Fire started about 7:30 o’clock when the theatre, which seats about 500, was packed to capacity. Practically every seat was occupied and a few late comers were standing in the rear of the orchestra. There were a few persons in the aisles, looking for seats or returning from an unsuccessful search for them, but the aisles were in general clear and open.

“The Sheik” was the picture being shown, and it had been advertised, not only by the usual methods through newspapers and by billboard posters, but by letters to patrons. The response had caused the “standing room only” sign to be displayed.

The picture was preceded by a prologue, a girl, representing the heroine, and a man impersonating the Sheik, both in Arab costume, appearing on the stage and singing a duet.

The opening scene of the picture proper is a harem scene, and at tonight’s showing incense or a colored light, or both, were burned in an attempt to give “local atmosphere” and “local color.” This incense or light was seen by persons in the audience to burn close to the ceiling above the stage, being apparently suspended from it.

Panic Follows Spreading of Flames.

Suddenly there came a flash of flame, and immediately afterward, according to some of those present, what appeared to by pieces f burning scenery fell to the floor of the stage. There was almost a unanimous opinion that the fire began on the stage. It did not in the projecting box, which was located in the balcony.

The flash of flame which ignited the inflammable stage accessories caused a rush for the exits. Increasing in volume, the flames spread out over the seats in the orchestra, and a stampede began. Panic stricken, the theatre patrons, who included several hundred Yale undergraduates and a large number of New Haven residents, men, women and children, struggled to get out of the building, driven by a fear of disaster.

Some of the cooler heads endeavored to check the panic. These cried, “keep your seats and file out; move out slowly. There’s no danger.” These warnings had little effect in stopping the rush.

Those who had been sitting in the rear seats reached the street without much difficulty, although they had felt the heat of the fire to such a degree that most of them insisted that an explosion had taken place which had filled the theatre immediately with scorching flames.

Those in the middle of the house and in the balcony had a terrible experience. The panic grew among these, and men, women and children were trampled. Amid it all there seemed to have been a certain restraint, due probably to the comparatively high level of intelligence, which prevented it from being the mad rush which has characterized other theatre fires.

Many of those who escaped, with hands and faces burned, and eyebrows and hair singed, said that they recalled having unwillingly trampled over bodies of persons who had fallen in the aisles. A considerable number must have fallen, but many of these, although injured and with their clothing partly torn off, regained their feet and were able to attain safety.

Patrons Jump From Balcony.

In the balcony, escape was but off when the stairs caught fire. Many patrons were dropped or jumped to the orchestra floor, and their numbers added to the crash. One of those in the audience described the scene then as being like a gigantic football scrimmage.

Many of those in the balcony escaped by means of the narrow fire escape, but even there the weaker were knocked down and trampled upon and some of them fainted before being pulled up by the stronger.

Meanwhile the flames having ignited the entire theatre devoured it as though it were kindling wood. The building was a frame structure a century old, and lacked fireproof construction. To add to the confusion and the difficulty of escape the lights were extinguished and the final struggle for egress was made in darkness that was penetrated only by the yellow light of the burning theatre itself.

The entire fire department was summoned instantly and emergency calls were sent to Bridgeport and Meriden.

For some time the firemen were unable to penetrate the theatre because of the rapid spread of the fire. The building had been emptied of all who were able to walk within two minutes after the flames appeared.

Yale Students Aid in Rescues.

The combined efforts of the three fire departments were not sufficient to prevent the flames from spreading to two adjacent business blocks, but in these the blaze was extinguished without serious damage. The historic Hyperion Theatre is situated around the corner from the Rialto, In Chapel Street, and the roofs of the two theatres come close together. The danger to the Hyperion was imminent and the firemen fought to save it from ignition. There was a burlesque show just beginning in the Hyperion, and it was dismissed without panic.

Almost with the alarm of fire hundreds of Yale students started to give what assistance they could in the work of rescue. They came from Connecticut Hall and the Vanderbilt Dormitory, the nearest of the buildings in which students are living. Scores of others came running from the Harkness Memorial Dormitories, a block and a half away. Others rushed across the campus from Durfee, Wright and Farnum halls and from the cluster of dormitories around Berkeley Oval. A little later the crowd of students was swelled to more than a thousand by the arrival of those living in the fraternity houses in “Shefftown,” as that part of the campus near the Sheffield Scientific School is known. The reflection of the fire brought people to the scene by thousands.

Manager Blames Incense.

Morris Kennedy, the operator of the moving picture machine, described his experience as follows:

The Flames came out into the body of the house from behind the screen and over the stage with a flaring, blazing rush. The theatre lights had been turned off for the beginning of the picture, and before I could turn them on the interior of the theatre had become a raging mass of humanity struggling to escape, as the flames were eating their way out over the body of the house. Men were hanging from the balcony and were dropping down into the squirming mass of human beings who were trying to wriggle into the open.”

Continued in part 3, below