Community helps Pittsburg Theater Company after fire destroys its warehouse

PITTSBURG — The show will go on, even after the Pittsburg Theater Company loses its warehouse.

A 55-acre grass and brush fire on the western edge of Pittsburg on Sunday destroyed the warehouse and everything inside.

Despite this, theater board member Diana Schepers said she was more focused on their next show and not what they had lost.

“Our whole past was in there,” Schepers said, thinking back to the warehouse. “All the photos from the past going back to 1979, the show posters, all those memories were gone.”

Schepers said she spent last Sunday preparing for the opening night of the company's production of “The Sunshine Boys.” Moments after arriving home, messages started coming in that their warehouse was on fire.

“I followed the fire trucks and saw the fire continuing and thought that was it, there was nothing left,” she said. “The roof was completely engulfed, flames were coming out of the top, and so I knew it would be a total loss at that point.”

Schepers said almost everything inside was lost and in just a few days they put on a show.

The only thing that was at the California Theater in Pittsburg were the back walls.

“So we posted on Facebook a list of what we needed and all of a sudden Wednesday we had everything we needed,” Schephers said of the community support.

Mary Wilson lives in Pittsburgh and said she heard about the fire on the news. She was stunned when she watched the footage of the burning warehouse.

“The loss of all these items is a tragedy,” Wilson said. “It's truly sad.”

Wilson knew she would come to the show and support the business.

“Because they’re local, it’s a community and it’s fun,” Wilson said of purchasing tickets to the show. “We appreciate it.”

Many people who came to watch the show stopped to look at photos of the fire, read about what happened and made donations.

Schepers said even though the show was happening, they were still working to recover.

On top of all the lost equipment, they also need to find a new location for a future warehouse.

“Our goal is to raise at least $50,000 because we know the cost of warehouses and we had a very good agreement with the city because they supported us and we don't expect to have that in the future” , Schepers said.

For now, they are just grateful for what they have, a successful show and the support.

“You feel that community and you're part of something bigger than yourself,” Schepers said of the support.

The Theater Company is working on a benefit concert to be held July 27 at the California Theater.