Shouting “Fire!” in a Crowded Theater is Bad – Unless the Theater is Actually on Fire
As flames spread backstage in the Brooklyn Theatre, some crewmembers decided that the greater danger was not the fire, but panic among the audience. So the actors continued their performance, and downplayed the risk. As the fire spread, two actors urged the audience to stay in their seats. As the smoke and flames became obvious, a theatergoer yelled: “Fire! Fire! The house is on fire!” Lead actress Kate Claxton tried to calm things down, and stated: “There is no danger. The flames are part of the play“. No sooner had she said that, than a piece of burning wood fell at her feet, and she screamed in terror as she jumped back. The audience reacted with the very panic that the crew had sought to prevent. Those in the balcony stampeded for the stairs, and many were crushed in the process.
The building did not have enough exits to swiftly evacuate a thousand panicked theatergoers. To relieve the pressure, an usher opened a rarely used backstage door. Some managed to escape that way, but it worsened the disaster: it increased the airflow to the stage and fed the fire, which swiftly grew in intensity. Those in the cheap seats highest up had it worst of all. They were trapped in dark foyers and difficult-to-navigate stairs. Backstage, some actors made it out, but others stopped at the dressing rooms to change, were trapped, and perished in the disaster. Many fell to their deaths from the balconies, were crushed, suffocated from the smoke, or were burned to death. The official tally of the disaster was 278 deaths, but some accounts reported more than 300 fatalities.