Smoke forces Batavia theater to evacuate
A smokey, electrical fire forced the evacuation of at least 200 people from a Batavia theater Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters from Batavia and Geneva responded to a call at the Randall 15 Imax theater, 550 N. Randall Road, at 3:54 p.m. according to Battalion Chief Randy Banker.
A heating and air conditioning unit shorted out and started on fire. Banker said smoke from the small blaze was drawn into the theater requiring movie goers to evacuate.
There were no injuries, but Banker said some of the patrons were unhappy to leave the premier showing of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
"We had to keep them out of the theater for about 40 minutes," Banker said. "Some of them weren't very happy about that. "
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