Lincolnite

Saturday evening’s full-house performance of “Blast!” was interrupted by a fire evacuation after their first number. It seems the stage smoke effects set off the alarm system (although hardly the first time such effects have been used). The staff is to be commended for the swift and orderly move of the 2,400 or so to the streets where all stood around for more than 20 minutes before two fire department trucks finally showed up. Any alarm from a public building should have resulted in an immediate and substantial response. I understand that only the fire department can reset the alarms. While it was a false alarm, the slow fire department response reminded me of FEMA. Lincoln police were not even dispatched until the audience was returning to their seats. Many did not return at all. Mayor Coleen Seng, who attended this performance and did return, needs to investigate this serious breakdown in emergency procedures. This Lincoln fire and police response was pathetic and would have been disastrous had it been a real fire. William R. Ramsay, Lincoln

More than a thousand people — including the mayor — evacuated the Lied Center Saturday night after the smoke machine used during the first number of the "Blast!" performance set off a fire alarm. The drum and bugle corps production was interrupted by an alarm and repeated intercom warnings to "proceed to the nearest exit, there is a fire in the building." The audience evacuated the building safel y and was left to stand outside for some 15 minutes, waiting for firefighters to show up and wondering what was taking them so long. Fire Chief Mike Spadt said a university operator was alerted but did not notify the Fire Department. Instead, a maintenance person was contacted. Meanwhile, an off-duty firefighter in the audience called the department. Once the Fire Department was alerted, firefighters arrived within 40 seconds, Spadt said. Spadt said he has asked the Lied to discontinue the practice of not calling the department and engaged the state fire marshal to help make sure "it never happens again."