[17
APR 00] APOLLO CINEMA NEWS
Fire Destroys
Leamington Cinema
More
than 150 cinema-goers, many of them children, were evacuated from a
Leamington cinema today after a suspected arson attack sent flames
shooting through the building.
An
illuminated poster display in the bar area is thought to be the source
of the blaze at the Apollo Cinema in Portland Place, Leamington.
Youngsters
enjoying the Easter break were in the multiplex cinema shortly before
4pm when the fire was spotted.
Many
of them were taking advantage of the school holidays to see the
eagerly-awaited Pokemon movie, but instead faced a real drama of their
own.
Evacuation
procedures were put in place and all the people in the building were
led to safety in the car park within two minutes.
Fire
crews from Leamington called for assistance from colleagues in
Kenilworth, Southam, Warwick and Atherstone as the flames took hold.
The
blaze spread to the roof area, causing thousands of pounds of damage
as 25 firefighters battled to control the fire.
Manager
Gary Stevens said each of the four screens had suffered damage and it
would be weeks before the cinema was opened again.
Mr
Stevens said:
“At
the moment the fire brigade are treating it as arson.
“It
looks as if the fire started in the bar lounge area.
“We
will have our people on-site tomorrow morning to see when we can
open again, but I cannot see anything happening for the next
fortnight or three weeks.
“There
is damage to the roof and no part of the building has escaped. There is a lot of heat damage."
He
added it was the second disaster to hit the cinema at Easter in two
years. In 1998 floods from the River Leam deluged the building,
closing it for weeks.
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