Fire Cancels Saturday Night Ballet At Bass Hall

Sunday show scheduled to go on.

Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth's Sundance Square was evacuated when fire alarms went off just after 6:00 p.m. Saturday.

NBC 5 Fort Worth reporter Chris Van Horne said there was a noticeable burning smell as he arrived at Bass Hall.

Workers and dancers were evacuated and stood across the street waiting for word on what happened.

Bass Hall representatives said there was a small electrical fire. However, the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A curtain caught fire and according to the Fort Worth Fire Department, stage hands used fire extinguishers until firefighters arrived and used hand extinguishers to put out the fire.

There was no major damage.

Texas Ballet Theater was scheduled to perform Val Caniparoli's Lambarena and Glen Tetly's Voluntaries at 8:00 p.m. The fire department ruled that the show would not go on.

The fire department and Bass Hall will continue with clean up Saturday night, but Hall officials expected shows to resume on Sunday.

Dione Kennedy, President & CEO of Performing Arts Fort Worth issued the following statement:

“Tonight’s Texas Ballet Theater performance has been canceled due to a small fire. A curtain above the stage caught fire late this afternoon between performances. No patrons were in the building at the time. The fire was quickly contained by the Fort Worth Fire Department and there was no structural damage to the Hall. We are working closely with the fire department to determine the cause of the fire. Texas Ballet Theater’s Sunday performance is still scheduled for 2pm. Please contact Texas Ballet Theater’s box office for more information.”
 

Fort Worth fire crews spent most of their time clearing the hall of smoke. Fire spokesman Battalion Chief Richard Harrison says the fire was put out quickly.

"Units arrived on scene, they made entry and they found security crews were attempting to extinguish a curtain fire that was on the stage," Harrison said. "They were using portable extinguishers. The fire department went on and used red line, a smaller diameter hand line to extinguish the fire."

There were a few customers going to the box office at the time the alarms went off. Matt Willison said the evacuation of the building was handled calmly.

"The alarm just started going off right away," Willison said. "Nobody really panicked, they just went 'everybody across the street.'"

Long time volunteer workers said they couldn't recall experiencing any fire or cancellation like this before. Bass Performance Hall opened in Sundance Square in 1998.

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