On March 3, 1956, the Colquitt Theatre was gutted by a fire that brought down the roof.
still coming out. They hindered us for a few seconds but they were the most calm bunch of people I’ ve seen. The whole thing was more like a fire drill. We were working up near the screen when we heard a crackling noise overhead. Someone hollered,‘ The roof’ s going to fall in.’ We dropped our lines and part of us ran for the east exit to the rear of the theater and part to the west exit. We hardly had time to get out before the whole roof came falling in. By then, everyone was out of the building.”
The Moultrie Fire Department pulled up in front of the theater within seconds after an alarm was telephoned in at 9:30 p. m., the newspaper reported.
Apparently what happened was a red spot appeared at the corner of the screen and turned into a flame that engulfed the stage. The fire chief told the newspaper that he believed the fire started in the ceiling and dropped embers onto the screen, at which point the audience saw it.
The Observer reported that,“ One or two women screamed but they were quieted by others in the audience and the crowd hurried out the two entrances in, more or less, orderly fashion. It was the refusal of the crowd to panic that allowed the half-filled theater to be evacuated with only three minor injuries.”
The newspaper also stated that the“ real heroes” of the fire were the 600 men, women and
children who evacuated calmly and quickly. It also credited the fire fighter units from Moultrie, Thomasville, Tifton and Spence Air Base for saving the downtown area.
The downtown area suffered minor damage compared to what it could have been. The Commercial Building, next door to the theater, had windows that cracked from the heat of the fire and the roofs of both the Powell Building and the Huber building, across the street, caught fire. Firemen and volunteers put those fires out and volunteers pulled down the awnings of Schreiber’ s, Christ’ s and Braswell Jewelry Store, which had also caught fire, and stamped out the flames.
After two years, the Colquitt Theatre opened its doors again on March 20, 1958, with The Observer touting it as“ safer and more modern.”
“ The new building is as fireproof as a building can be. Exits have been built to comply with the safety code. The roof is mostly steel girders and concrete while the building is of brick,”
30 MoultrieScene JUNE 2025