January 11th, 2023
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
At Disneyland in Anaheim, California, an afterhours fire between Dec. 28th and the early hours of Dec. 29th damaged the New Orleans Railroad Station in the old Frontierland.
Disneyland has a Disney owned Fire Department on the theme park property. According to Sgt. Jacob Gallacher, spokesperson for the Anaheim Fire Department, they received a call on Thursday Dec. 29th at 3:29 a.m., alerting them of a structure fire in the New Orleans Square train station, specifically the radio house. Then, the Anaheim Fire Department, alongside the Disneyland Fire Department crew, worked for 15 minutes to put out the fire.
The fire caused some damage to the train station’s radio house building, found between the depot in New Orleans Square and a water tower. The radio house functions as a Cast Member break room and refills steam engines.
The photo below shows the building before the fire.
Disneyland erected white construction walls and a 20-foot-tall beige scrim to shield the fire-damaged building from visitors while the Disneyland Railroad continued to take riders on a “Grand Circle Tour” around the park.
The damaged building is in one of the most historic sections of the Disneyland theme park. Built in 1955, the station is based on a set from the 1948 Disney film “So Dear to My Heart.”
How was a fire detected and put out in only 15 minutes? Disney properties are known for their fire prevention practices and provision of fire protection systems in their buildings. They use third party property risk inspections to ensure best practices are in place.
To learn more about best practices, see the NFPA 1, Fire Code (2021 edition) with special amusement park requirements. If you would like a third party risk inspection, Risk Logic can provide a risk assessment for your property. Please contact Risk Logic for an inspection or with any hazard management questions you may have.