Citizens who visited the Disney theme park in California on the night of this Saturday, April 22, had the scare of their lives after a 13-meter-tall mechanical dragon caught fire in the middle of one of their shows.
It is a mechanical attraction from the renowned show Fantasmic!, in which Mickey Mouse faces several of the iconic villains from Disney films, including Maleficent, the antagonist of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ who takes the form of a dragon.
Fantastic Fantasmic fail – wow! #fantasmic #disneyland pic.twitter.com/MZhNJhEXrB
— JessicaT (@Ms_JessicaT) April 23, 2023
At least a thousand people witnessed the exact moment this animatronic dragon caught fire in the middle of the show, engulfed in flames as park staff asked their patrons to leave the area.
According to Sergeant John McClintock of the Anaheim City Police, the park was evacuated by workers, and the fire was quickly put out.
According to the medium TelemundoNo injuries were reported, something that was confirmed by the Anaheim Fire Department. Authorities also noted that an investigation is underway to determine the causes of the fire.
The incident happened around 11:00 pm (local time), something that was recorded by hundreds of people who came to Tom Sawyer’s island in the amusement park to see the show.
Sergeant John McClintock said experts were on the scene to investigate, but it had not yet been possible to determine what caused the flames.
Some users on social networks shared the moment of the fire, noting that the amusement park made an announcement informing customers of what was happening, and began playing music to calm those present.
Similarly, they pointed out that the park staff did an excellent job at the time of mobilizing that large number of people out of the area.
Actually was dead silent once the show stopped and an announcement was made. I’m guessing the music was turned on to keep people calm and make things feel normal. The CM’s took things very seriously and did a good job clearing the area.
— JessicaT (@Ms_JessicaT) April 23, 2023
“The truth is that I was silent when the show ended and the announcement was made. I guess they played music to keep calm. The guards took things very seriously and did a good job clearing the area,” wrote one of the people who was present during the incident.
Through a statement, the theme park indicated that it would suspend all shows and attractions that used fireworks, this as a precaution while the causes of the fire were determined.
