Apollo Theatre Collapse

[Stillhomewardbound]

On the flip side, if it was going to happen at all then it couldn't have happened in a better place. Firstly, the Apollo is just 200ft or so from the West End's main fire station, Soho. Second, this station is at the heart of a well rehearsed and thought out emergency programme which would have been put into place within moments of the preliminary assessment. London has perhaps the largest concentration of theatres of any city in the world and one of the LFB's first priorities are the many thousands of patrons that sit safely in those theatres night after night. Fire is the biggest worry, normally, but having passed via Shaftesbury Avenue tonight just a little after thirty minutes after the collapse I witnessed an air of completely studied calm with eight tenders on standby, including specialist vehicles, while the police had commandeered a number of double-deckers to transport walking wounded. They were also actively out with emergency signs and the like directing traffic away from the area and ensuring that the surrounding streets would be clear should extra rescue vehicles have been required at the scene. A very unpleasant experience for those affected I have no doubt but thanks goodness we have the resources we have and a salutary reminder of the risks that are taken when some logistician tells us how London can easily get by with fewer fire stations.

[Vile Consort]

Pity you spoiled your post with cheap political point-scoring.

[Tony Halstead]

Pity you spoiled your post with cheap political point-scoring.

Stillhomewardbound's word was actually 'logistician' not 'politician'.
His post was a sensible and salutary reminder that London needs all its fire stations.
There's nothing cheaply/ politically 'point scoring' about that observation.

[BBMmk2]

All credit for SHB, for posting this quite horrific disaster. Let's hope that those that were affected by this, recover quickly.

[amateur51]

Thanks for the great photo shb. Where did you take it from?

Thankfully there was no loss of life although I think seven people sustained serious injury.

As for the 'cheap polital point-scoring' I note that this member lives at some distance from the event

As one of many millions who have lived and worked and made merry in central London, the Soho fire station is one of the things that makes me feel safe there.

[MrGongGong]

Pity you spoiled your post with cheap political point-scoring.

Are you entering yourself for this ?

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?10105-Twit-of-2013&highlight=twit

We all rely on the fire service and all credit to them

[Stephen Whitaker]

I think that owners Max Weitzenhoffer and Nica Burns might have skimped on the maintenance of a theatre that dates from 1901 and is very little changed since it opened.

Much of the West End's commercial theatre stock is in a very poor state of repair and I have been anticipating this sort of incident for decades.

[gradus]

R4 news report saying that all west end theatres are to be inspected for signs of structural failure in the coming days.

[Stillhomewardbound]

It's not my photo, folks, but from a news website. I couldn't see a name to credit it to.

Elsewhere, I wrote this last night and it seems that initial inspections are saying something similar:

"The overall structure and the integrity of the building is almost certainly safe. What has given way though is the internal ceiling, the cornice etc., and partially at that. Would I have wanted a seat in the Stalls tonight? Of course not, so I'm not being flippant, but I'm looking at what went right tonight. As for the bigger picture, I'm going to hazard a guess that tonight's thunderstorm and its subsequent deluge will have been a factor in this incident. The likelihood is that there has been an incipient leak in the roof of the theatre for some time, such as may not have been undetected previously, and which through a process of saturation, and desaturation in dryer times, has led to an expansion and contraction of the interior. So, if my amateur DIY theory is correct, this evening's influx of rain may well have been just what tipped the balance."

As for that imputation of 'political point scoring', it is that riposte which is most cheap, rather.

[Dave2002]

V. regrettable. I hope that everyone recovers. There, but for the grace of God ... We have/had tickets for tomorrow night, but a night off won't be unwelcome.

Some London theatres do appear to be in a poor state, and perhaps this incident will raise standards.

[Stillhomewardbound]

Some years back Andrew Lloyd Webber was leading a campaign of sorts to raise awareness of the issue of London's ageing theatres both from a safety and restoration point of view.

The Society of London Theatres is eager to assure future audiences that the West End's* theatres are safe and that the relevant safety certificates are all in order, however, one has to hope that each of the theatre owners will be getting their surveyors in to give thing s a full once over, just as they do in the event of incidents involving aircraft.

(* I refuse to use that horrid term 'theatreland')

[pastoralguy]

(* I refuse to use that horrid term 'theatreland')

It's a ghastly term, isn't it?!

[clive heath]

Sometimes we can rely on the Fire Service, but when they're on strike as they were recently when a house in our street caught fire through a cannabis farm electrical system malfunctioning, we have to rely on the Emergency Fire Service who say that relations between the two groups are strained.

[Serial_Apologist]

If there are two different services, that's a new one on me!

[clive heath]

This seems to cover it

http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/contingency-plan.asp

we had 4 of the 27 available engines! They did a reasonably good job ( a lot of water seemed to go over the house rather than into it ) and left just after 2 pm when the strike was over. The normal fire service arrived some time later but didn't have much to do although the cherry-picker for peering into the remains of the loft was dramatic! The house was unoccupied except for the sativa collection.