Heroic staff save the day as fire breaks out in Carlow cinema

STAFF at Carlow’s IMC cinema have been heralded for their quick thinking in bringing a blaze at the premises under control.

Up to 400 moviegoers were evacuated from the eight-screen cinema complex, located at Fairgreen Shopping Centre, on Saturday evening. Fire crews rushed to the scene, with Liam Carroll, acting chief fire officer with Carlow Fire and Rescue Service, telling The Nationalist his members were alerted to a “commercial fire” just before 5pm.

Units from Carlow town, Bagenalstown and Tullow attended what transpired to be “a small electrical fire, which was contained to a room on the uppermost floor of the premises”.

Centre manager John Brophy said the fire broke out in a projector room and was quickly extinguished “due to the prompt action of cinema staff”. The building, which had between three- and four-hundred patrons in attendance at the time, was then fully evacuated by staff as a precautionary measure due to the presence of smoke. No injuries were reported.

Local gardaí were also in attendance as the area quickly became heavily congested on a busy Saturday evening. Emergency services maintained a presence in the area until 8pm. Cinema doors stayed firmly closed for the remainder of the weekend. A handwritten sign alerting the public to the fact that the premises was closed read: ‘Cinema closed. Apologies for any inconvenience. Once we have power, everyone will be contacted and all tickets honoured.’ 

Mr Brophy told The Nationalist that “electrics need to be checked and certified” before the building can become operational. The centre manager then extended his thanks to the public, whom he says were “very co-operative”.

“This happened at a particularly busy time for the cinema. Fairgreen wishes to thank our customers for the way they worked with us and the fire service and their teams for the thorough and professional response. I understand that the cinema will honour all tickets,” he added.