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Workers, guests get real scare as fire starts in haunted house
By John J. Hopkins Times
Sparks from a torch used to weld a mechanical prop at a haunted house in Garden Village Plaza caused a fire, forcing an evacuation of the facility just before its peak attendance hours.
The October 19 blaze at Frightworld was reported at 5:32 p.m. The popular attraction offers five haunted houses within a former Ames department store at the mostly vacant plaza.
A sprinkler system activated, which helped contain the fire, which was extinguished by South Line firefighters within minutes.
However, firefighters weaving through five different mazes to evacuate visitors and employees would have faced a more daunting task had the blaze occurred at night, said South Line Fire Chief Doug Wilkowski.
"It's a pretty elaborate setup," Wilkowski told the Times. "It was noisy in there. We found people on the other side of the building who didn't realize there was a fire. Some had no idea, and others thought it was part of the show."
Attendance at Frightworld doesn't peak until late evening hours, so there were only 35-40 persons- mostly employees- inside when the fire broke out. Wilkowski said a Frightworld official told him daily attendance ranges between 1,000 and 2,000 visitors.
Firefighters are required to search for potential victims in an occupied building, and the haunted house's layout necessitated a large number to perform the task. Wilkowski estimated each of the five "rooms" were 400 square feet.
"The biggest problem we had was the volume of smoke," Wilkowski said. "There was a lot of theatrical smoke in there as well. It was dark."
Wilkowski said roughly 25 of the 55-60 firefighters who responded to the site performed search and rescue tasks. He said 25 is a "highly unusual" number of firefighters to use during search and rescue.
One employee/actor was found crouching in a corner of a "room" directly next to the room that was burning. He was treated for smoke inhalation and released at the site.
"If the sprinklers hadn't worked, he could have gotten trapped," Wilkowski said.
After the facility's sound effects system was silenced, the fire alarms could be heard.
Ed Saternus, a Cheektowaga fire inspector told the Times there was
little danger of the fire growing to catastrophic proportions, noting that the building met all codes required before a public assembly permit was issued.
The site had functioning sprinkler and fire alarm systems. Frightworld provided an evacuation plan, which Saternus said was followed.
"That plan is pretty thorough, and we went through it with them," Saternus said. "Their staff gets training, and they submitted documentation that they received training."
The idea of a real danger inside an amusement area designed for frights wasn't lost on Wilkowski.
"A guy comes after you with a chain saw, and he finds a fireman standing there with an axe and air pack telling him to leave," Wilkowski said, noting that the parking lot later took on a strange sight, with fire trucks surrounded by people with "severed" arms and other "bloody" limbs.
An investigation determined that the person welding the prop did not have a "fire watch," a second person assigned to watch for sparks and ambers.
"A welder wears a helmet," Saternus explained. "He's down, close to what he's welding and doesn't know what's going on around him. That's exactly what happened. The prop caught fire, and it got a jump on him."
Saternus said that haunted houses and mazes are required to comply with building codes pertaining to amusement parks.
Frightworld was inspected- and approved- by the town building and fire inspectors and the state labor department before the site was allowed to open.
Saternus said all props, such as cloth and plants, were properly treated- and tested- for fire resistance.
"We had everything in place," Saternus said. "Unfortunately, it still happened."
Wilkowski said there were about 10 chemical-based fire extinguishers that were used by employees who attempted to quell the blaze. He and Saternus applauded employees for their efforts.
"I'm pretty proud of them," Saternus added.
Wilkowski said damage was limited to ceiling tiles and "a couple thousand dollars" to the props.
South Line firefighters were assisted at the scene by firefighters from Doyle and the Town of Lancaster's Twin District. Firefighters from Forks and West Seneca's East Seneca Fire District stood by at South Line's fire halls.
Saternus said that the facility was back in compliance with all fire codes within 2-1/2 hours of the fire and was allowed to reopen.
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