| How dangerous is nitrate based film stock? Watch these videos of controlled burns, and you decide. |
Panic at the Bijou
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| Click on any of the news articles to read them full size. |
| Buster Keaton in a state of the art 1920's projection booth. |
In February 1921, on a Saturday, a fire broke out in
the Bijou's projection booth. 13 people were
injured, 7 with serious burns. It was a miracle that
no one died either by burns, exposure to toxic
fumes, or by being trampled in the panic that
resulted after an usher opened a fire shutter.
the Bijou's projection booth. 13 people were
injured, 7 with serious burns. It was a miracle that
no one died either by burns, exposure to toxic
fumes, or by being trampled in the panic that
resulted after an usher opened a fire shutter.
| Read ALL About It. Fire Routes 500 Patrons During Evening Performance. |
The motion picture industry would never have evolved past the novelty stage without a film
stock that was light weight, transparent, capable of holding a silver emulsion, while staying
flexible enough to run through a series of gears and sprockets run after run. After years of
industry financed research, cellulose nitrate, proved to be the best material to produce film
from. It had all the attributes that Hollywood needed, except for one serious defect; it's highly
volatile nature to flash into inextinguishable flame when subject to heat. There is no way to put
out a cellulose nitrate fire except to allow it to burn itself out. Run any of the three videos to the
left to see just how nasty burning nitrate film can be. The nitrate oxide fumes from a film fire
can be lethal if too much is inhaled.
The potential for a deadly projection fire was always a real possibility. Extensive, detailed
regulations were written to govern how the projectionist should handle nitrate film so that it
would present the least danger of igniting. Projection booths became fireproof fortresses;
their walls, ceiling, and floors by law had to be constructed of double thick brick or stone
block and the doors of double steel with automatic closures that would swing them closed if a
fire were to start in the booth. Likewise, all the projection windows or "ports" were to have
shutters that slam shut in the presence of a rise in temperature. In the days before
air-conditioning, many shows stopped abruptly because the fire fuse link would give way and
the shutters would drop in front of the booth ports in the middle of the show1! The idea being,
that if the nitrate film "flashed" (that's how it burns - it's a cross between "ignite" and
"explode"); the resulting fire and fumes, would be restricted to the projection booth,
effectively sealed off from the rest of the theatre and the patrons.
Many of the regulations are obvious. Smoking was never permitted in the booths; the
projectionist could never leave the booth while a film was running (a regulation that prompted
the installation of toilets within the booth itself). There should be no wood or combustible items
in the booth, no open flames allowed, and everything, including the furniture, had to be metal.
Others regulations on handling the film, were more complicated and inconvenient. No more
than three feet of film could be exposed at any one time. A reel could not contain more then
2000 feet of film and it had to be always kept in it's own fitted steel can; only to be removed for
repair, projection, and rewind. There was a separate fire proof room attached to the projection
booth to repair and rewind films, and to store the film cans in individual fire vaults when not in
use.
Projectionists also had to be licensed. They had to know all city, state, and federal electrical
regulations and fire codes, as well as be knowledgeable about film, projectors and sound
systems. They were required to pass an extensive written test first; then a hands on practical
exam.
All projectors had film magazines; enclosed metal cases which sit above (the supply reel) and
below (for the take-up reel) the projector lens and operating mechanism. The film would pass
through fire barriers (or "traps") just where it enters and leaves the projector mechanism -- the
idea being that if a fire were to break out in the projector head (the most likely place a fire
would start) -- it would burn only the relatively small amount of film in the projector head, but
could not travel up or down to flash the much larger quantity of film on the supply reel or on the
take-up reel because it would be stopped by the fire traps. For all these precautions,
however, there were still a number of disastrous theatre fires across the nation, all attributed
to nitrate film as the combustible material that caused the fires.
Peter's theaters were state of the art, built with the highest level of fire protection. The Bijou
fire should not have happened, but the projectionist was careless, allowing film scraps to
accumulate and not putting unused film reels back in their cans and fire vaults. Once it started
the fire turned into an inferno. The fire shutters and doors snapped shut and the booth would
have contained the smoke and flames except another employee who wanted to see what was
happening, forced open a fire shutter. Heat and toxic smoke bellowed out, and people
panicked. They ran to the front entrance next to the projection booth, ignoring the other fire
exits in the side wall and back of the theater. All the injured were from that group.
Thankfully there were no fatalities, and all the injured recovered, including the badly burned
projectionist. Peter was especially thankful as his wife Minnie was working at the theater that
night selling tickets.
stock that was light weight, transparent, capable of holding a silver emulsion, while staying
flexible enough to run through a series of gears and sprockets run after run. After years of
industry financed research, cellulose nitrate, proved to be the best material to produce film
from. It had all the attributes that Hollywood needed, except for one serious defect; it's highly
volatile nature to flash into inextinguishable flame when subject to heat. There is no way to put
out a cellulose nitrate fire except to allow it to burn itself out. Run any of the three videos to the
left to see just how nasty burning nitrate film can be. The nitrate oxide fumes from a film fire
can be lethal if too much is inhaled.
The potential for a deadly projection fire was always a real possibility. Extensive, detailed
regulations were written to govern how the projectionist should handle nitrate film so that it
would present the least danger of igniting. Projection booths became fireproof fortresses;
their walls, ceiling, and floors by law had to be constructed of double thick brick or stone
block and the doors of double steel with automatic closures that would swing them closed if a
fire were to start in the booth. Likewise, all the projection windows or "ports" were to have
shutters that slam shut in the presence of a rise in temperature. In the days before
air-conditioning, many shows stopped abruptly because the fire fuse link would give way and
the shutters would drop in front of the booth ports in the middle of the show1! The idea being,
that if the nitrate film "flashed" (that's how it burns - it's a cross between "ignite" and
"explode"); the resulting fire and fumes, would be restricted to the projection booth,
effectively sealed off from the rest of the theatre and the patrons.
Many of the regulations are obvious. Smoking was never permitted in the booths; the
projectionist could never leave the booth while a film was running (a regulation that prompted
the installation of toilets within the booth itself). There should be no wood or combustible items
in the booth, no open flames allowed, and everything, including the furniture, had to be metal.
Others regulations on handling the film, were more complicated and inconvenient. No more
than three feet of film could be exposed at any one time. A reel could not contain more then
2000 feet of film and it had to be always kept in it's own fitted steel can; only to be removed for
repair, projection, and rewind. There was a separate fire proof room attached to the projection
booth to repair and rewind films, and to store the film cans in individual fire vaults when not in
use.
Projectionists also had to be licensed. They had to know all city, state, and federal electrical
regulations and fire codes, as well as be knowledgeable about film, projectors and sound
systems. They were required to pass an extensive written test first; then a hands on practical
exam.
All projectors had film magazines; enclosed metal cases which sit above (the supply reel) and
below (for the take-up reel) the projector lens and operating mechanism. The film would pass
through fire barriers (or "traps") just where it enters and leaves the projector mechanism -- the
idea being that if a fire were to break out in the projector head (the most likely place a fire
would start) -- it would burn only the relatively small amount of film in the projector head, but
could not travel up or down to flash the much larger quantity of film on the supply reel or on the
take-up reel because it would be stopped by the fire traps. For all these precautions,
however, there were still a number of disastrous theatre fires across the nation, all attributed
to nitrate film as the combustible material that caused the fires.
Peter's theaters were state of the art, built with the highest level of fire protection. The Bijou
fire should not have happened, but the projectionist was careless, allowing film scraps to
accumulate and not putting unused film reels back in their cans and fire vaults. Once it started
the fire turned into an inferno. The fire shutters and doors snapped shut and the booth would
have contained the smoke and flames except another employee who wanted to see what was
happening, forced open a fire shutter. Heat and toxic smoke bellowed out, and people
panicked. They ran to the front entrance next to the projection booth, ignoring the other fire
exits in the side wall and back of the theater. All the injured were from that group.
Thankfully there were no fatalities, and all the injured recovered, including the badly burned
projectionist. Peter was especially thankful as his wife Minnie was working at the theater that
night selling tickets.
| WARNING! If you have nitrate film in your possession, be extremely careful! It is NOT to be played with! People have lost fingers, a whole hand or an eye when fooling around with nitrate film. Many have died in explosion accidents or fires - water won't extinguish a nitrate fire! IF YOU HAVE CAMERA NEGATIVES THAT WERE TAKEN PRIOR TO 1940, THEY COULD BE NITRATE BASED. READ THESE PDF FILES ON NITRATE FILM CONSERVATION FILE-"A" FILE-"B" |
| All Images and text on this site are copyrighted by A. R. Dawe, Earlville, NY., and may not be copied or reproduced without written permission. |
| Leonard Martin Has a great article on the Library of Congress's nitrate film collection. Click HERE to view it, and his fabulous movie links. |
| L & H |