By Amy Baker and Libby Davies.
A fire broke out at the University of Auckland’s Maidment Theatre when a large curtain caught alight this afternoon.
Firemen at the scene. Photo: Amy Baker
He was the first staff member on the scene and tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher before the Fire Service and Unisafe were called.
Mr Pharo says while the curtain is fully fireproof “there is only so much you can do”.
“This is not some thing you can predict,” he says.
The curtain is believed to have caught fire due to a stage light.
Final-year engineering student Clara Lee, 21, says the evacuation by staff was “really calm”.
“As we were evacuating we saw that, like, half of the curtain was on fire, pretty much.”
Students were forced to leave all their belongings inside the building – some even leaving barefoot.
The revue was due to run until Saturday. It was not clear today if a new venue will be needed but students remain optimistic.
“We worked really hard,” says Ms Lee. “The show must go on”.