CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An early morning fire at Theatre Charlotte’s auditorium at 501 Queens Road has been deemed accidental by the Charlotte Fire Department.
Fortunately, the security system detected the fire and alerted police and then the fire department. While the fire department was able to quickly respond to and put out the fire, there was still significant damage to the auditorium and smoke damage throughout the building.
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“They got there and contained the fire in pretty remarkable fashion. I cant thank those first responders enough," Ron Law, executive director of Theatre Charlotte said.
The theatre said most of the seats and floor on the house right side of the theatre were lost. The fire also caused extensive damage to the ceiling of the auditorium and may cause sections to collapse. The sound, light boards and other equipment were also badly damaged or destroyed.
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"Still, we are thankful. We are thankful that no one was in the building and no one was injured," officials with the theatre said. "We are thankful that this happened at a time when we were not actively preparing for a show and welcoming audiences into our building."
"This year has already been devastating to the theatre and having a fire destroy our auditorium is another shocking blow."
“We have been there since 1941," Law said. "We have survived Hurricane Hugo, recessions, depressions, World Wars and so on and this is the first fire.”
The Charlotte Fire Department has deemed the fire accidental due to a fire involving the HVAC unit; with an estimated property loss of $50,000, but an insurance adjuster would be out later this week to assess the additional value of all the equipment loss. Theatre Charlotte fears the $50,000 estimate is "a gross understatement."
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