School theater fire raises questions on safety

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Feb. 9, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

A small fire in a theater stirred up drama at an art academy Friday and raised questions as to whether the school was safe for students.

Clark County School District police officers at the Las Vegas Academy, a magnet high school downtown, reported smoke coming from the school's theater at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The two officers used fire extinguishers to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived to help.

"The fire might have gotten a little advanced if there was no one there to see it," Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Timothy Szymanski said. "The quick action of police officer extinguishing the fire and firefighters coming in to mop it up was what saved that building."

Fire officials believe curtains caught on fire after they were heated up by stage lights. No one was hurt and the cause is still under investigation.

About 600 high school students were evacuated from nearby buildings.

"That's just weird how the fire occurred," said Craig Brown, a 16-year-old sophomore who was standing outside waiting to return to class. "The red curtain was supposed to stop the fire but it didn't. That just tripped me out."

The curtain had flame retardant material that helped slow the burn but did not prevent it from catching fire.

Two students said the fire illustrates how old the buildings are.

"I don't feel safe here," said Ashley Bruno a 15-year-old freshman. "Everything in this school is really old and it's gonna fall down on me one day."

A newer building under construction will replace the older theater. Unlike the new building, sprinklers were not installed in the older theater because it was built before they were required, Szymanski said.

Still, he said he thought the fire retardant curtain worked.

"Everything worked the way it was supposed to," he said. "We're really happy with the way it turned out."