 January 13, 1908, was meant to be a night to remember in Boyertown,
Pennsylvania.The town was buzzing over the debut of a new play, "The Scottish Reformation," at the Rhoads Opera House. While dozens of townspeople readied for their roles as cast members, hundreds of others laid out their Sunday best in anticipation of watching the action unfold from the audience. But no one could have guessed what real life drama awaited them inside the walls of the opera house. WFMZ-TV is marking the 100th anniversary of that fateful night with a one hour documentary, "The Rhoads Opera House Fire: The Legacy of a Tragedy." It revisits the fire that killed 170 people and sparked changes in fire safety standards that still stand today. "The fire wiped out about 10 percent of the town," says WFMZ reporter Jaccii Farris, the documentary’s writer and narrator. "Nearly everyone knew someone or cared about someone who died." The fire broke out when an actor knocked over a kerosene light on the stage. The entire opera house was engulfed in minutes. Many of the victims couldn’t escape the flames because the fire exits weren’t clearly marked. Also, the doors of the opera house opened inward, so panicked patrons sealed their own fate when they crowded together in front of them. Farris says the fire brought Boyertown to a standstill. "Every day (after the fire) there were funerals and burials," she says. The impact of the loss was woven through the entire town. Children were orphaned, and entire families were wiped out. Others had to learn to live without brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. Farris says, in one example, a wife went to the play to surprise her husband, who was playing piano for the show. "Unfortunately, the surprise he got was that his wife was among the dead," says Farris. But from the ashes of tragedy came the seeds of change. The fire was the catalyst for revamping building safety regulations nationwide. "Now, anytime you walk into a building, you’ll walk past exits signs. Fire extinguishers will be on the walls, and the doors will open outward," says Farris. "The Rhoads Opera House Fire: The Legacy of a Tragedy" is the second production from WFMZ’s documentary unit. The first, "Slots in the Valley: Win, Lose or Draw?" was recognized by the Pennsylvania Associated Press as one of the best in the state in 2006. The team’s latest effort has been in the works since April. Farris says putting together the piece has been much like making a film. "The research, the writing, the recreations. It’s been a very involved and emotional process," she says. "The Rhoads Opera House Fire: The Legacy of a Tragedy" premieres on WFMZ-TV on Sunday, January 13, at 8:00 p.m., the exact time the curtain went up on "The Scottish Reformation" 100 years ago in Boyertown. ( Amy Unger, WFMZ-TV )
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