UPDATE: Woman falls 40 feet during show at Sagebrush theatre

KAMLOOPS – The second half of Friday night's showing of Peter and the Starcatcher at the Sagebrush Theatre was cancelled after a woman, believed to be working on the lights, fell 40 feet during intermission.

Kamloops Fire Rescue responded to a 911 call at about 9:30 p.m.
"She was working on the lights I believe," assistant chief Steve Kilmartin says.

One of the theatre-goers says the victim’s screaming was horrendous.

“We didn’t know what was going on. It was ongoing, horrible, horrible screaming that seemed to go on forever,” she says. “Everybody was just ill. We knew something tragic had happened.”

Kilmartin says the woman was unconscious when firefighters arrived and B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics arrived minutes later.

The woman was rushed to Royal Inland Hospital, but according to the Western Canada Theatre general manager, her injuries were not life-threatening.

“The female technician fell from a ladder,” Lori Marchand says in a media release. “The hospital reports the prognosis for the technician is good and she is now resting and recuperating.”

Marchand says the theatre company has launched an investigation into the incident. WorkSafe B.C. will also be investigating.

People who were at Friday’s show will have their tickets honoured at the two performances of Peter and the Starcatcher scheduled for Saturday, which Marchand says are going ahead.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

— This story was updated at 11:20 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014 to include comments from a theatre-goer.

— This story was updated at 1:24 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014 to include comments from Western Canada Theatre's general manager.