Why have ancient theatres been destroyed so often by fire?

路 Bolshoi Theatre - 1825

路 Royal Opera House - 1858

路 Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre - 1860

路 Palais Garnier (one of the Op茅ra de Paris) - 1875

All of them were built or re-built after their predecessors found their fates among flames. Why was it so common and what did they do around the middle of the 19th century that stopped this trend?

Why have ancient theatres been destroyed so often by fire?classical music

Before electricity was widespread, theaters often used live flames and torches to provide their stage lights. Combine with that the fact that most of these theaters were made mostly of wood and had a lot of other flammable objects inside (costumes, any papers, chemicals for paint and effects...) its more a wonder that MORE theaters didn't meet a fiery fate.

Why have ancient theatres been destroyed so often by fire?ms stress opera theater

wooden
they dnt have fire alarms?
those theatres is made up of wood and fires can grow fast in wooden things
it all centers around the 'Scottish Play' i.e. Macbeth. Which has a curse on it and will destroy buildings and people who make fun of it. This curse was placed on the play by one of the origional witches in the story who was afronted by not being paid by Shakespeare when the story was obviously based on her and her sisters. The trend stopped when the play became popular. The curse dissipated due to overuse.
Insurance scams probably.

Even our very own Wm.Shakespeare experienced this. Having spent a load of capital building the new Globe Theatre here on London's Bank-Side, the place got burnt down on day one when a cannon was fired on stage. The sparks set fire to the thatched roof and the whole thing was a blazing inferno in only a few minutes.

Back in those days you had to buy insurance and it was the insurance company fire crew who arrived to put it out. But they would first check the outside of your building to see if you had their 'badge', if not, sorry, they went away again.

Not sure if Will had any insurance or not.

Nice blaze tho' for the local pyromaniacs.
As said wooden buildings and a reliance on flames (lanterns, candles and torches) for lighting and effects.

By the way I do not think any of these were ancient as such; most ancient theatres were stone and remains are still seen today. 'Historical' would be a better term.

Note also that the use of celluloid film in early cinemas led to a number of (sometimes tragic) fires; celluloid fiolm being almost explosively inflammable.
insurance purposes
It is due to the use of gaslights as footlights on the stage, and the use of flaming lime (limelight) to make spotlights. All above stated theaters burned during the period when these things were used. People also caught fire in the footlights, notably Emma Livry, a ballerina at the Paris Opera, whose skirt caught fire. 9 months later she died from the burns.
They had to have dozens, if not hundreds of reflector lamps to illuminate the stage, and of course, almost all building had wooden frames, so when they burned, they went up fast!

In the early 20th century, fire in a theater was still so common, and so dreaded, that Oliver Wendell Homes (great American Jurist) said "Freedom of speech does not allow a man to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater."