About 40 minutes into the late showing of “Salt” at the Majestic 12 Cinema on Friday night, the movie stopped, the lights came on and a fire alarm sounded.
A voice over the loudspeaker told Doug Cook and fellow moviegoers to leave the theater.
“But within 45 seconds, a Carmike employee came in to tell us that there was no fire, we could return to our seats and the movie would restart momentarily,” Cook said.
As they waited over the next 60 minutes or so for the film to restart, Cook said he overheard employees say that smoke from the fireworks show at AT&T Field had infiltrated the theater’s heating and air conditioning system and set off the fire alarm.
Majestic Assistant Manager Lee Smith said it has happened before at the theater, which opened this year.
“It has happened two or three times,” he said. “When they were shooting them off, the whole street was full of smoke and filled up the upper floor. It jammed our fire alarm and shut down the projector.”
Chattanooga Lookouts owner Frank Burke said fireworks have been a part of Lookouts’ promotions for 11 years and that he is not aware of any other business having the same problem.
He said nothing is new or different about this year’s pyrotechnics, which are a big draw with fans.
According to the online schedule, fireworks are scheduled for Aug. 6, 13 and 28. There have been nine previous fireworks promotions since the season began in April.
“The fact of the matter is, we are aware it and we don’t know what the solution is,” Burke said. “That is an important part of our business.”