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June 22, 2006
6 Alarm Fire (0)
On my way home from work I saw plumes of black smoke coming from my neighborhood. There was so much smoke; it could be seen miles away at DFW airport. I snapped a quick shot with my phone as I got closer. (This is not recommended while driving a motor vehicle.)
When I go close to the house I realized it was the old Arcadia Theater. I parked at the house, grabbed my camera and walked down to Greenville Avenue.
There was quite a crowd watching the nearly 40 trucks and their crews fighting the blaze. I had missed the collapse of the roof and explosions of the air conditioning compressors.
The Arcadia was the first theater in Texas Vitaphone sound equipment in Dallas. It later changed to a venue for live musical acts such as Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. When Karen and I went to the Arcadia, it was a dance club.
Neither of us really enjoyed that scene, but a friend of mine was the bartender behind the theater screen. It was like a little neighborhood bar attached to an obnoxious dance club back there. He got us in the club for free and like to ply us with free drinks. He also hated to be called a 'bartender.' He was a "barkeep." Using the other term could get you tossed.
Sadly besides the old Arcadia, all of the other businesses in the building were destroyed, including Nuevo Leon Mexican restaurant, a family favorite and Cafe Nostra, the best pizza in Dallas.
I have a couple of additional shots (read actual good shots) of the fire at Flickr.
Posted by Rich at June 22, 2006 10:55 AM
