Fumes in Theater Force Evacuation

About 500 moviegoers were evacuated Friday night from a theater complex in downtown Chula Vista after a strange smell was noticed in one of the six theaters, police and bystanders reported.

Four patrons who complained of nausea and shortness of breath were taken by paramedics to Scripps Memorial Hospital-Chula Vista, where they were in stable condition, a nursing supervisor said.

Hartson’s Ambulance operations manager John Reisdorfer said about 20 people reported mild symptoms of nausea and itchiness in their throats and were treated at the scene. Police blocked off 3rd Avenue between F Street and Park Way to let the ambulances get to the United Artists complex.

Patrons said they noticed the smell about 8:15 p.m. in the theater showing “Hot Shots,” police said.

Chula Vista police asked the hazardous materials unit from the San Diego Fire Department to respond, and that four-person unit was dispatched from its La Jolla base, a San Diego Fire Department spokeswoman said.

A spokesman at the United Artists district office refused comment Friday night.

A movie patron said his family, waiting in line to buy tickets shortly after 8:30 p.m., was told that “somebody fooled around with an air conditioner.”

“We were told that there was a very strange smell in one of the theaters, and that there was no smell in the others, but they had decided to evacuate the entire place anyway,” said the man, who declined to be identified.

“They were telling people that they couldn’t give any money back because it had been locked up in a vault or something, but that they were giving out free tickets to use” later.

A dispatcher for Hartson’s said movie patrons were also taken to Chula Vista Community, Mercy, Paradise Valley and Naval hospitals.

Times staff writer David Smollar contributed to this story.