Fire forces evacuation at theaters

Jesse Villegas and his friends knew they'd chosen the right movie Sunday night when they came out of the Red Rock Theatres to find about a dozen fire trucks.

"We almost went to see 'Ronin' in a theater that was near where the fire was," Villegas said. "Instead we went to see 'Practical Magic,' and I'm glad we changed our mind."

Las Vegas firefighters responded to the call about 11:30 p.m. at the theater complex at 5201 W. Charleston Blvd.

About 70 people were in the building at the time, but all were evacuated safely, department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

"It looks like it started in some seats in a theater and then spread up into some curtains," Szymanski said. "Management reported that they smelled smoke and heard the alarms go off. They called 911 and evacuated the building."

Villegas and his friends said that they did not hear the alarms and were not evacuated from their theater.

"We walked out at about 11:45 p.m. and we saw the trucks and smelled smoke," Villegas said. "Nobody had come and told us there was a fire, and we didn't hear the alarms."

There had been a report that the alarms were not working, but theater staff said that they did go off, and the theater manager was notified at home by the alarm company that the alarm had sounded, Szymanski said.

Automatic sprinklers had almost put the fire out by the time firefighters arrived, and it took less than 10 minutes to douse the flames, Szymanski said.

Investigators were looking into the cause of the fire. Damage was estimated at about $10,000.

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