https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4981786/#!po=22.7273
Investigation later determined the cause of the explosion was an overheated stage projection light that reached over 750°F and combusted. The concentration of the powder or dust and airstream turbulence as people ran caused the fire to spread.
It seems most of the reports I can find deal with the response and medical aftermath of the event. So no details on the
type of fixture blamed as the source. All the same putting a pound of cornstarch into a
fixture might not be a good thing.
@venuetech back in 1995, the scenery and automation shop I was with fabricated and supplied all aspects of the scenery,
masking and automation for a production of the Who's rock opera 'Tommy' to be staged in Offenbach, Frankfurt, Germany. Four representatives from Germany's TUV, their inspectors of all things, from materials, to welding and off-gassing were daily guests in our shops for approximately six weeks including watching the entire production being carefully packed into Eight of the largest shipping containers prior to heading to an ocean going port. One interesting thing we learned about trans-Atlantic shipping was no matter how heavy we thought our containers were, they were nothing near the ratings of most of the ocean going containers. We were assured we were far too light to be stowed below
deck and we were advised to pack everything to be water tight as the containers were anything but water-tight and would be buffeted by storms and spray for most of their time aboard a cargo
carrier. We also learned if, in the estimation of a ship's captain, it was necessary to jettison our containers to save his ship and crew, his company's only onus was to forward the time and location of our containers being tossed off the
deck after which it was up to our shop's owner to contact his ensurer. This was 1995 when satellite
tracking was in its infancy and primarily employed by the military.
Skipping ahead to meeting the TUV inspectors again on their home turf. The Who's rock opera 'Tommy' began on a university campus in LaJolla California. As it proved to be an instant hit, a New York City based production company took over the show and moved it to Broadway. I believe Broadway's St. James
Theatre housed 'Tommy' during its initial run in NYC. While 'Tommy' was still on Broadway, the American director, designers and producers chose to launch a US national tour closely followed by a North American International tour. As is all too common, the producers went with the low bidders and they soon found themselves paying large for IA one to repair and maintain their constantly failing automated scenery and 10 pinball machines. The US producers learned from their experiences and when a
German based rock promoter fell in love with 'Tommy' in the St. James, the producers suggested he may wish to check out a number of US based lighting, scenery and automation shops while they were in New York. One of our shop's owners was seriously interested in building as much of the
German production of 'Tommy' as he could snag and thus I found myself in a meeting masterfully scheduled and chaired by
@STEVETERRY in the
boardroom of his brand new New Jersey location.
Getting back to Offenbach and the inspectors from TUV.
TUV visited our
load in and set up many times but came the day they were visiting to inspect our
E-stop and
safety systems, they wanted a demonstration of the largest, pyro-belching, pin ball machine with a performer in place being taken for a violent ride by the wildly writhing mechanized monster under the
power of its three, synchronized, AC servo drives. New York based Gene O'Donavan, having acted as 'Tommy's' Technical
Producer since the production's initial move to Broadway, assured the TUV inspectors the machine would stop dead in its tracks if the performer so much as lifted both his feet from the gyrating machine's
foot treadle simultaneously. TUV insisted upon seeing a demonstration. I'll respectfully
point out Gene was retired from active military service and no longer what you'd
call neither in the greatest of shape nor used to riding the frantically gesticulating high-powered machine. TUV wanted decent lighting on the area and Dave Grill, the
American lighting design associate obliged with an
Ianiro 6" 2K 'Bambino' at 100% and flooded to its max. The
foot treadle's
E-stop switch had been bypassed for TUV to watch the machine go through its violent dance sans a performer as it was prior to 10 a.m. and none of our Equity cast members were in the
theatre. TUV kept tapping their toes, pointing at their watches and demanding their demo thus Gene O'D jumped aboard the machine and commanded the automation operator to once again run the sequence. It was more than attention getting when the Bambino's
lens shattered showering Gene and the gyrating machine with hot shards of glass accompanied by the
super nova of the 2K's
incandescent lamp and the startled Gene O'D losing his
grip and flying through the air hitting the
deck and rubbing his legs at the
foot of two of TUV's finest. The machine, with its
foot treadle
E-stop still bypassed, continued to whirl through the remainder of its program.
Suffice it to say much terse Germanic phrases ensued. I may be incorrect but I believe Gene O'Donovan used to be one of the movers and shakers behind a highly regarded New York City based scenery shop.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard