The sound of sirens filled the air on Thursday, April 11 around 3:00 p.m. They stopped abruptly once emergency vehicles pulled in front of Silver Cultural Arts Center (SCAC). Students were evacuated from the building and fire crews quickly entered. The cause for all of the commotion turned out to be a burnt out light ballast in Hanaway Theatre. “A light ballast,” explained Diane Jeffrey, Director of the SCAC, “is a kind of transformer.”
According to Jeffrey, “The student technical crew was working onstage at the time and looked out into the house (the patron seating area) and saw smoke in the upper level of the room. The technical operations supervisor went to investigate and decided there was reason to ask the local fire department over to check it out. When I called [the fire department] with that request, they determined that an evacuation of the building needed to take place. The only way to get everyone’s attention quickly was by pulling a fire alarm, so that is what we did.”
When fire crews arrived at the scene, according to Chief Thibeault of the Plymouth Fire Department, they were met with a smoke condition. “A smoke condition,” explained Thibeault, “is smoke in the building.”
“Upon investigation between the Plymouth Fire Department, our SCAC crew and physical plant electricians, it was determined that a light ballast had blown out and blown the cover lens off a light. A ballast is a kind of transformer and that is what caused the smoke,” said Jeffrey.
Students were able to get out of the building and nobody was injured. “At no time was anyone in danger and there was an orderly evacuation of the building,” Jeffrey said. The planned performance of the night went on as scheduled, because “this was not a theatrical light, but a house light that is only on when people are being seated and after the show,” explained Jeffrey.