THOUSAND OAKS : Fire Bumps Council Meeting to New Site

A small electrical fire in the Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theater disrupted the Thousand Oaks City Council meeting Tuesday night, sending city staffers scrambling for fire extinguishers and causing the council to retreat to a smaller room to resume the meeting.

A sudden pop startled council members and residents who looked upward into the theater’s rafters to see one of the hanging lights burst into flames.

Staffers raced up a catwalk to put out the flames with Councilman Andy Fox--who happens to be a city of Los Angeles firefighter--close behind.

A few blasts from an extinguisher doused the flames. City officials said it was probably caused by an overheated bulb, which ignited a piece of material used to diffuse the glare of the light.

The floor of the Forum Theater was slightly singed but there was no other damage.

The meeting was temporarily adjourned and moved to the board room because city officials did not want the audience to breathe fumes from the chemical extinguisher.

Quips about Fox saving the day circulated quickly around the council chambers, but Fox demurred, saying he only watched as a technician wielded the extinguisher.

“I love the smell of Dry-Chem in the afternoon,” Fox joked as a fine layer of the chemical drifted from the ceiling and blanketed the glossy surface of the black dais.