Jobs on hold after devastating fire at new southeast cineplex
Dozens of firefighters battle tricky blaze day after prospective employees hired
Hopeful job seekers hired to work at a soon-to-be-opened southeast movie theatre are facing uncertain futures as the company begins assessing the damage from a devastating blaze.
Just weeks before the longawaited Cineplex Seton and VIP Cinema was set to open its doors, the 43,000-square-foot facility caught fire Sunday evening, with firefighters from two stations battling the tricky blaze throughout the night.
The fire broke out the same weekend the theatre held a job fair that saw several prospective employees hired to work at the 11-screen cinema with three VIP auditoriums, the first of its kind in Calgary. Employees were set to begin training at the end of the month.
Cineplex spokeswoman Sarah Van Lange said the company is still in the process of determining the toll from the massive blaze, which saw 13 fire engines and 50 firefighters called in to battle it.
“We hosted a job fair over the weekend (Friday and Saturday) and are in the process of notifying those new employees about the fire,” she said in an email.
“It is too early in the investigation to speculate about how the fire will impact them. We’ve promised to keep in close contact and share updates as they become available with respect to timing.”
Van Lange added it’s also too early to determine when the theatre may open, given the investigation is ongoing.
On Saturday, SAIT student Holly Friesz, 23, was offered a job running concessions in the VIP section of the theatre, and was upset to discover a day later that the job is now in doubt.
“I was crushed, honestly. I hope they can get it fixed soon because I was really looking forward to this new experience,” she said.
“We were supposed to start training in a couple weeks inside the building.”
Equally devastated was Copperfield resident Allison Laity’s son Bryton, 18, who had just accepted his first job as a concession cashier over the weekend.
“He first said that he hoped no one was hurt,” Laity said of the Grade 12 student.
“Then he kind of shook his head and said, ‘I guess it’s back to looking.’ He has had a hard time finding a job.”
Calgary fire department spokeswoman Carol Henke said investigators have thus far been unable to get into the portion of the theatre where it’s believed the fire started due to concerns over the structural integrity of one of the walls.
“We do need to take the north wall down because it’s not safe at this point,” she said. “Once it’s determined it’s safe to go in, at that point we’ll be able to begin our investigation.”
Henke said that isn’t expected to happen for a few days and there’s nothing to suggest at this point the fire is suspicious.
The 1,900-seat cinema was originally slated to open in 2014, but was pushed back until the end of 2017.