Early motion picture theaters carried dangers that modern audiences rarely consider. Film stock was highly flammable, and a small spark inside the projection booth could quickly become a serious fire.
That danger became real at Clarksburg’s Bijou Theatre on a Monday evening in February 1909.
While a small crowd watched the performance, the film suddenly caught fire inside the operator’s booth. The operator escaped, the audience calmly filed through the front doors, and the theater’s fireproof construction kept the flames from spreading.
Film Burns
CLARKSBURG, West Virginia. — A moving picture film caught afire and burned at the Bijou Theatre on Main Street Monday evening, but the operator jumped out of the fireproof booth, in which the machine is installed, and confined the blaze therein.
The fire could not spread because of the fire proofing, consisting of sheet iron and asbestos.
There was a small crowd of spectators present at the time witnessing a performance, but all filed out of the two front doors without mishap.
The picture machine was damaged by the burning film. It was repaired Tuesday morning and regular performances will be held there tonight.
Source: The Daily Telegram. Clarksburg, W. Va. February 23, 1909.
