Fire safety measures in any enclosed building are critical, but especially so in theaters. The history of deadly blazes in performance venues goes back centuries, and while modern building practices and materials have dramatically reduced the risk of fatalities, theaters still face an uncommon fire threat.
Last year, for example, fires erupted at theaters at Disney World, Hollywood, Branson, and Connecticut. In 2021, three transformers at Jackson College in Michigan caught fire and forced the campus to close. One of the transformers was near a theater in the building. In 2020, a fire at Doris Duke Theater in Becket, Mass. destroyed the building. The theater, part of an entertainment venue called Jacobs Pillow, is an integral part of the tony Berkshire Mountains community. The theater will be rebuilt, and no people died in any of the fires.