Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Paradise Cinema 7 and the Camp Fire

This is topic Paradise Cinema 7 and the Camp Fire in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007618

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 11-15-2018, 11:31 PM:

Hello FT community.

I'm sure most of you have heard about the Camp fire which has completely decimated the town of Paradise in Northern California. The current statistics (as of 11/15) are almost 10,000 residences destroyed and 290 commercial buildings. There are 63 confirmed fatalities with over 600 people still unaccounted for.

Fortunately our theatre in Paradise was spared, aside from smoke and ash damage. However, the theatre will most likely be out of business for an extended period of time. I have heard estimates that it will take months to restore the power grid, and possibly up to a year to have clean water. So it's going to be a long haul.

All of the theatre staff are accounted for. However, most of them, including the owners, have lost their homes.

If you are interested in helping the people of Paradise, we recommend the Go Fund Me drive for Tri Counties Bank, which is based in Chico, just down the road from Paradise. Tri Counties will distribute 100% of the funds to local non-profit charities which have been vetted to be trustworthy.

Tri Counties Bank Camp Fire Fund Raiser

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-20-2018, 08:48 AM:

I wish you all the best of luck of getting your operations running again in Paradise, in the coming hard months, where people will be more preoccupied with reinventing their lives, than going to the movies.

Still, a movie theater can play an important role in keeping a community together and I hope you manage to ride it out.

I've just put $50 towards the fundraiser, maybe just a drop in the bucket, but enough drops and you can fill an ocean.

The biggest grief about GoFundMe is that they only take credit cards and no PayPal, which can be a hindrance to some people. I know that PayPal usually charges a ton of processing fees, but for charitable causes, they're known to make an exception.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 12-25-2018, 11:22 AM:

Hi Justin I hope things are getting better for you and your staff.

I'd like to point out a few posts (one mine, one Mark G.'s and one Louis B.'s) in this thread: "Protecting equipment during prolonged power failure" thread in Digital Cinema forum that you'll find helpful.

Mark pointed out the idea of insurance providing a temp generator to help prevent mold; (which you saw and replied to)

I offer some advice on that and what your insurance might be up to with the test swabs; (post #14)

Louis has an excellent suggestion to assist you with future issues. (post # 15)

Wishing you, your family and staff a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.

I am restarting my own business out here and will be donating to the GoFundMe as soon as possible to assist the folks in your area.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 12-25-2018, 03:29 PM:

Tony
Thank you for the thoughts. I actually run our other location in Lakeport, CA. My boss, the owner, is handling most of the issues related to the theatre. I pass on what info I think might be helpful, but he's been extremely busy with little time to sit and talk. Besides he and his daughter losing their homes, he has to deal with the theatre, multiple insurance issues between their homes and the theatre, as well as town issues. He is no longer on the town council, but is still very involved with their rebuild planning.

The issue regarding the swabs by the insurance company is definitely something to keep an eye on. The main reason I commented on it was because it was something I had never heard of before. But I can certainly see how the insurance company might use it to limit liability. At the same time, with GDC ending support on our servers, it would be easy for the insurance company to low ball by saying they had exceeded their useful life.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 12-26-2018, 10:58 AM:

Justin

You're welcome.

I hope things get settled for your boss, I can only imagine the stresses right now with all of that going on, with the added burden of the city business in the mix. I do hope that it all works out in the end.

I have read that the fire started from a fault with a PG&E power line and that several parties have initiated a lawsuit for the damages...that is not surprising since both PG&E and So Cal Edison are notorious for not maintaining their ancient infrastructure.

I hope he gets a chance to look at the threads here, maybe some of the info will help out.

Here's to 2019 being a much better year for everyone as well. Please keep us posted (as much as possible without jeopardizing the insurance claim) on any progress.

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 12-27-2018, 08:09 AM:

Friend of mine travelled from Ontario Canada as part of a power line crew (his focus is forestry and some line work) to Paradise for a couple weeks recently. Such devastation. I'm not sure what kind of shape, if any, the lines would have been when he got there, I'll have to ask about that.