
Fire! A brief history of theater fires in New York City - robbybaron
https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/fire
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dredmorbius
Having seen this essay as it's appeared a few times across HN and elsewhere, a
key lesson is the _extreme_ tendency of those who are responsible for and more
specifically _benefit by_ externalised risks, to deny, equivocate, and
outright lie about those risks.

It's a lesson that applies as well to numerous other technologies: asbestos,
lead paint, leaded petrol, CFCs, tobacco, vaping.

And, just possibly, some aspects of information technology.

There's also the long history and tremendous advances in fire safety, mostly
through avoidance, but also through improved response and firefighting
techniques. Among the notable aspects of the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire was that
it was the largest urban fire in well over half a century. I've just looked
through Wikipedia's listings for an earlier comparable event, and thought
there was one in the 1920s or possibly 1930s, but there the only remotely
similar fires were in the 1900s or 1910s, with the Great Fire of San Francisco
(1906) possibly being the most notable. Also suggesting that the SF fire and
quake left such an impression simply because there _was no comparable
disaster_ following it. Previously, great, city-wide conflagrations occurred
with distressing regularity.

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fennecfoxen
And here's a brief history of the phrase "yell fire in a crowded theatre," and
its use in politics and law, and in modern free-speech issues:
[https://www.popehat.com/2012/09/19/three-generations-of-a-
ha...](https://www.popehat.com/2012/09/19/three-generations-of-a-hackneyed-
apologia-for-censorship-are-enough/)

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cascom
Tangentially - I can’t recommend Ken White’s first amendment related Make No
Law podcast highly enough - and his podcast on the often mis-interpreted but
oft quoted “fire in a crowded theatre” is great.

Episode is: [https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/make-no-
law/2018/06/fi...](https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/make-no-
law/2018/06/fire-in-a-crowded-theater/)

------
ruminasean
As a stagehand, I've spent an inordinate amount of time on fireproofing,
worrying about fire, as well as working with fire officials to make sure the
risks are minimized as much as possible. Oh and also cleaning up after one
fire, which destroyed a major-market local news studio and pushed Regis and
Kelly out of their studio. It's no joke.

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mikestew
_Gerhard claimed that the average life of a theater in the United States was
only about thirteen years due to fire._

Though approaching retirement age, I have always wondered why such a thing had
its own phrase, “...’fire’ in a crowded theater.” I mean, c’mon, how often
does _that_ happen? Well, apparently, before any of us were born...

Which brings to mind how many other idioms we have that haven’t been relevant
in our lifetime. Heard a podcaster the other day ask his fellow hosts where
the phrase he had just used came from: “nuke the site from orbit, it’s the
only way to be sure.” He didn’t forget, he hadn’t even seen any of the movies.
It is entirely possible that the source material is older than he is. (I saw
it in the theater, which remained uncombusted, if I might bring this back on
topic.)

~~~
yeldarb
Interesting; I didn't know that was a movie reference. I had usually only seen
it used in conjunction with "kill it with fire" (eg when fire wasn't enough).

The first recollection I have of it is this reaction gif (which must be 15+
years old by now): [https://tenor.com/view/stickman-nope-funny-crazy-destroy-
gif...](https://tenor.com/view/stickman-nope-funny-crazy-destroy-gif-3430252)

~~~
mikestew
Well, FWIW, you’re missing a good action-filled sci-fi flick that still stands
up well after 35 years, IMO. (And believe me, I know what it’s like to
recommend movies to youngsters that, whoops, didn’t age so well. I’m looking
at you, _Eacape from New York_.)

