Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Small Fire Drafthouse New Mission Theatre SF

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Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 08-19-2019, 01:03 PM:

All the Sunday 8/18 movie showing at the Drafthouse New Mission Theatre in San Francisco CA had to be shut down as a small electric fire set off by the cinemas batteries that power the emergency light system started at 10:20 AM

No 70mm showing of 'Once Upon' or the special 'Goonies' movie event had to be all cancelled.

Good thing someone was around when this first started. Just some minor smoke and water damage. They hope to be open again soon after the fire dept checks other things out inside.

Theatre owners check your emergency batteries out, examine them for leaks or shorts!!!

This is such a great theatre treasure in San Francisco and we are all glad something worse did not happen inside if the place had been closed.

Thanks to SF projectionist Jim Cassidy who told me about this early today. Jim long time 'Film Tech Forum' guru is looking for a apartment in SF after having to leave his old place for a condo conversion. We wish him luck.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 08-19-2019, 01:09 PM:

This also prevented the 35mm showing of The Abyss: Special Edition.

I'm told the print (one of two in existence) wasn't damaged.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-19-2019, 01:40 PM:

Good to hear that the damage was minimal and that everyone is safe.

I hope, however, that there will be a thorough investigation as to the cause of this. As the PML battery system is active 24/7, it was a huge stroke of luck that this didn't happen at 3am, when no-one was around, and the sprinkler system might not have been enough to stop it.

I have once been working in a movie theater when we had to evacuate because of a genuine emergency (smoke from a pizza oven chimney fire in the restaurant next door was sucked into our HVAC intake, and filled a 450-seat auditorium with smoke): it was very scary, and there were three serious injuries and 10-20 more minor ones caused by a stampede for the emergency exit. You can never be too careful when it comes to fire prevention, alarm system testing and maintenance, and regular fire evacuation drills.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 08-19-2019, 05:13 PM:

I've seen the results of a serious building fire caused by an APC UPS. Not pretty...

I've also have had an APC UPS going bad at me once, we unloaded two fire extinguishers on it, primarily to avoid other stuff catching fire, but it kept sparking around. It took some fire fighters in their moon-suits to get it out of the room. They put it into a large steel dumpster where it kept on spewing sparks for hours...

I never bought an APC UPS ever again after that, until they decided to merge with MGE/Schneider Electric... I hope their stuff is better designed nowadays.

Batteries store energy and the more energy they store at ever higher density, the bigger the chance of big fireworks.

quote: Geoff Jones
The Abyss: Special Edition

Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
Is that the one with the big wave at the end?

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 08-19-2019, 06:46 PM:

Yes, Marcel. That version has never been released on Blu-Ray, nor even as an anamorphic DVD. There is a fan restoration online referred to as "The Abyss SEHD v2.0."

The theatrical cut isn't available on disc either, but it can be watched in HD on Cinemax and streaming services from time to time.

Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 08-19-2019, 09:47 PM:

Anyone know how many prints of Abyss SE were struck? I saw one at the Towne theater in San Jose back in the later 1990's

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 08-20-2019, 09:48 AM:

My friend Terry reminded me that this apparently isn't the first
fire they've had there. In January Y2k16, there was a fire in a
"climate control unit" on the roof.

SMALL ROOFTOP FIRE AT NEW MISSION THEATER
Link To Story

A small fire that broke out in a climate control unit on top of the
New Mission Theater this afternoon was quickly extinguished by
firefighters and left minimal damage.

“We were halfway through ‘The Revenant’ when all of a sudden
one of the ushers comes up and says, ‘You’re going to have to
leave, the building is on fire,'” said movie-goer Tom Leahy,
standing outside with a cluster of other evacuated Alamo
Drafthouse customers.

Firefighters arrived on scene and extended a ladder to the roof,
finding the offending unit merely smoldering, according to Acting
Assistant Chief Kirk Richardson. He said the only damage to the
roof was some roofing material, not structural.

Firefighters doused the embers in water and departed.

The Alamo’s Liz Duran said the only aftermath the cinema had
to deal with was some excess water on the roof and some
reshuffled showtimes. < END >

> Lets wish them better luck for a fire-free future! <

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 08-20-2019, 10:24 AM:

quote:
es, Marcel. That version has never been released on Blu-Ray, nor even as an anamorphic DVD. There is a fan restoration online referred to as "The Abyss SEHD v2.0."

I had forgotten how they called that version. I've seen it once in cinema, way back in the 1990s and I was pretty impressed with it, especially back then.

For me, the "Special Edition"-way is the only way the movie should end, it gives the story much more power than the otherwise fluffy Disney-esque end of the "Theatrical Cut". I was also pretty impressed with the quality of the special effects at the time, but apparently it wasn't entirely there yet during the final release and the fear of losing ticket sales due to overly long run-time eventually won.

I still don't understand why we don't have a Blu-Ray or even 4K restoration of the "Special Edition", if I understand correctly, it's also the version Cameron himself likes best.

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 08-21-2019, 10:41 AM:

Geoff***That 35mm hard to find rare print of 'The Abyss' that is locked up inside the New Mission projection booth in SF that is now delayed for It's special sold out 35mm film showing will play again in a few weeks.

I was told yesterday by one of the projectionists on duty the 35mm 'Abyss'film print is in very bad shape. While inspecting It most of the reels have a ton of splices and one reel had over 26 splices and broke on him 2 times just doing the rewind and pre look inspection. The color is off in many places.

He even asked for another 35mm print but non available. So anyone that goes to see this in SF at the 'New Mission' there may be some fast repair breaks when the film is finally run.

It was so nice that they have re opened the theatre after being closed for a two day air out and I did not smell any smoke or see any soot damage in theatre #1 on the left wall of the stage curtains were the damaged battery unit was located.

The 70mm 'Hollywood' print looked just as good as It did from a few weeks ago. No scratches or lines on all the 70mm reels. So whoever gets this semi new 70mm print next will have a great image to show and lets hope they keep it as nice as the New Mission and Its two dedicated IA projectionists Jason & Matt have done.

The Castro Theatre in SF will be getting a 35mm film print of 'Once Upon' in early Sep for a few days. Maybe some day they will get a nice 70mm print to show in the future also.