Disney Suspends Fire Effects Globally After Dragon Bursts into Flames at CA Park

Brady MacDonald, Brian Rokos

The Orange County Register

(TNS)

Disney theme parks around the globe have temporarily suspended fire effects similar to those used in “Fantasmic” after the show’s 45-foot-tall animatronic dragon burst into a towering inferno during a performance of the nighttime spectacular at Disneyland.

The “Fantasmic” dragon caught fire during the final showing of the nighttime spectacular on Saturday, April 22 at the Anaheim theme park, according to Disneyland officials.

Anaheim Fire & Rescue quickly extinguished the flames and treated several Disneyland employees for smoke inhalation, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Jon McClintock. No Disneyland employees were hospitalized and no firefighters or visitors were injured, according to McClintock.

Anaheim Fire & Rescue and the Orange County Fire Authority sent engines and ambulances about 11 p.m. Saturday after receiving calls from Disneyland and park visitors who saw the dragon go up in flames.

The dragon was still fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived and they were dispatched with their gear on small boats across the Rivers of America to Tom Sawyer Island to extinguish the fire.

The fire did not spread to vegetation or adjacent buildings that serve as a backdrop for the nighttime spectacular on Tom Sawyer Island, McClintock said.

All employees were safely evacuated from Tom Sawyer Island where the show takes place, according to Disneyland officials. Visitors were evacuated from New Orleans Square and Critter Country and nearby attractions were closed due to smoke impacts from the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Disneyland officials. Anaheim Fire investigators were at Disneyland on Sunday, April 23 to determine the cause of the fire, McClintock said.

Disneyland crews assembled fences and scrims around the damage on Tom Sawyer Island on Sunday morning to cover the charred skeleton of the dragon, according to MiceChat.

Disney is temporarily suspending fire effects similar to those used at Disneyland’s “Fantasmic” at select shows and entertainment experiences globally out of an abundance of caution, according to Disney officials.