This public-safety measure was part of a group of fire safety measures that were enacted as a result of several theater fire which occurred during that general time period . In December 1905 , commenting on theatre fires in his address to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers , Society President John R. Freeman found significant antecedents in the Brooklyn Theatre fire to the then-recent Iroquois Theatre fire , the 1881 Vienna Ringtheater fire and the 1887 Exeter Theatre Fire : stages crowded with scenery , an onrush of air from opening doors or windows , scant smoke vents over the stage , this giving rise to an outburst of smoke from under the proscenium arch with concomitant deadly effects upon upper gallery occupants
Iroquois Theatre fire
Iroquois Theatre fire
Theatre Detail Officers