Apart from the safety curtain coming down during the interval, have you ever thought about what goes into the fire precautions at a theatre?
Ron Alalouff paid a visit to the West End to find out.
My first thought on walking through the stage door at the Palace Theatre off London’s Shaftesbury Avenue – apart from wondering whether I was about to bump into a famous West End star – concerned the challenge of protecting such a warren of corridors, storage rooms and dressing rooms. The area leading from the stage door is more business-like than the public areas of the theatre, but gives an idea of the building and maintenance issues faced in this Victorian edifice – one of the group of London theatres owned by Really Useful Theatres.
My guide was Stanley Hales, the building services manager, showing me one of the wireless fire detection and alarm systems from EMS, now an accepted standard for new installations in the theatre group.
“There’s a very simple reason we have gone down the wireless route as opposed to hard wired systems,” explains Mr Hales. Most of our properties are listed buildings, with decorative plasterwork and finishes. Importantly, our theatres need to be open for six evening performances and two matinees a week – even seven day use is not now uncommon – so disruption must be kept to a minimum. The elimination of hard wiring means disruption is manageable.”
The roll-out of the systems was not quite so straightforward, however. Firstly, each theatre had to undergo a radio survey to check optimum transmission paths and iron out any potential problems, such as radio black spots. Secondly applications had to be made to the licensing and planning authorities, to ensure conformity with regulations, as well as aesthetic issues.
Experience with older battery powered systems meant that EMS and the installer, CTA, had to satisfy the concerns of the local authority licensing department on battery life and backup. This was addressed by providing secondary internal battery sets with sufficient power to carry out a number of functions, together with the provision of visible ‘low battery’ warnings.
The EMS systems can provide pagers for key members of staff, such as theatre managers and their assistants, house managers, and senior technical staff. These pagers mimic the main display functions of the control panel, so enabling quick and appropriate reaction to any alarms. As the system is addressable, staff are able to quickly pinpoint the location of any problem, and check whether the activation is a real event or false alarm.
In common with many large places of assembly, best practice means that when members of the public are in the building, automatic fire alarms should not at first sound generally. Instead, staff on the scene are alerted by pager, telephone, or radio, and will check the problem within very limited time scales. They will manage an evacuation if needed in a pre-planned way, or cancel the alert for a false alarm. Such an approach reduces the risk of uncontrolled evacuation causing its own problems. At every level of seating in the auditorium beacons by the seats of attendants are also installed, so that they can be discreetly alerted of any alarm conditions which may require action while patrons are on the premises.
Two modes
Warning devices are also located in other key areas of the theatre, for example behind bar areas. There are two basic settings for the fire detection and alarm systems in theatres – one for performances, and the other for day time mode when the evacuation process will automatically activate when the system goes into alarm.
Mr Hales first became involved with specifying EMS wireless systems in 2000, when he researched the technologies available to provide fire detection to satisfy the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997. Here was an opportunity to look at the fire safety of all occupants. As he puts it: “It would have been folly just to design a system to satisfy our workplace obligations, so we looked at the safety of our patrons as well.”
And since then he hasn’t looked back. EMS systems have been fitted into a total of five theatres under his stewardship with three more in the pipeline, and he has stayed loyal to the brand. “Our general policy is that once we have a system that works for us we stick with it and roll it out. We know and trust the system and our staff, who move between theatres, have become familiar with the operation of EMS equipment.
“Listed building applications need to be very specific,” he explains. “It’s therefore useful to work with installers who are mindful of that and know how to work within the guidelines. Also, EMS keeps its R&D going at quite a high pace, so when the authorities do raise a query, EMS are able to address it.”
Other benefits of the system include the option of having battery powered sounder/speakers, which saves the often difficult process of interfacing the detection system with the existing theatre public address system. “That’s a huge advantage when you have 20-plus dressing rooms in a theatre,” he adds.
What about the other special characteristics of theatres when it comes to fire precautions? I asked him. “Historically, false alarms have most often been caused by a technical element in a production, such as pyrotechnic going off or the effects of a smoke machine. If this happens, we either adjust the sensitivity of a particular detector or change the way we do the special effect. None of the false alarms we have had has led to an evacuation.”
Other measures common to theatres include the fire protection of all scenery and other materials used on stage. Props such as flaming torches have to be spring-loaded, so they automatically extinguish if dropped, and any smoke effects use non-combustible oil. Even the simple act of lighting a cigarette or candle on stage is regulated and has to be licensed for each production. Sprinkler systems are fitted where practical, mostly in the stage and dressing room areas. There’s even a ‘theatre fireman’ in attendance who has various duties before, during and after performances, while the larger theatres are often staffed round-the-clock.
And does the implementation of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order this month mean that Stanley Hales has to approach his fire safety procedures any differently? “We already have very thorough fire risk assessment processes which we constantly review, in line with changing requirements. Our technical manager has responsibilities to oversee fire risk assessment across the group, with individual Managers having direct control of their risk assessments and premises.
So next time you find yourself watching a West End production rest assured that a great deal of thought has gone into protecting the audience and cast from the consequences of fire.
