Portland’s historic Hollywood Theater was evacuated Saturday afternoon after a suspected natural gas leak prompted a response from teh Portland Fire Bureau. Moviegoers preparing to watch a screening of “RRR” were informed of the leak by a fire official shortly before the scheduled showtime.
According to a journalist from The Oregonian/OregonLive who was present, the initial announcement of a “little” gas leak drew some laughter from the audience before the fire official emphasized the seriousness of the situation and requested a calm evacuation.
The Portland Fire Bureau announced the leak on social media just after 2 p.m. Firefighters initially did not detect gas inside the building, but after NW natural shut off gas pipelines, levels reached at least 35 parts per million in a portion of the theater.
Firefighters used fans to ventilate the building, and by 2:30 p.m., gas levels had dropped to zero parts per million. Officials believe a faulty furnace in the boiler room was the source of the leak, allowing unburned gas to enter the building.
The incident occurred nearly a decade after a 2016 gas leak in Northwest Portland caused a massive explosion that demolished buildings and injured eight people.
The Hollywood Theatre initially did not respond to requests for comment from The Oregonian/OregonLive,but later posted on Facebook that the building was cleared for reentry and movie screenings would resume.
