Fire May Put Orange Drive-In Theater Out of the Picture : Movies: Blaze damages one of two screens at the venerable film venue scheduled to open Memorial Day.
One of two screens at the Orange Twin Drive In theater caught fire Sunday afternoon, throwing into doubt whether the screen at the 54-year-old theater will be available as the theater prepares to meet its traditional Memorial Day opening date.
The base of the screen at the theater, one of three remaining Orange County drive-ins, caught fire about 4 p.m., said Battalion Chief Tim Dombrowski of the Orange Fire Department.
The base of the screen is used to store concession stand materials, he said.
No one was injured in the blaze, but it took 25 firefighters about 20 minutes to control the blaze, which did an estimated $20,000 damage to the screen and its stored contents, authorities said.
A section of the 25-year-old, 120-foot-wide screen “just sort of peeled off, about the size of a truck,” said Linnea Pierson, vice president of Pacific Theatres, which operates the theater.
A swap meet that operates at the theater was closing for the day when the blaze broke out, Pierson said.
The drive-in shows movies only between Memorial Day and Labor Day, she said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
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