Winds that reached as high as 60 miles per hour forced a shutdown and evacuation of “Nightmare at Beaver Lake” last weekend.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, officials running “Nightmare” at Beaver Lake Park decided conditions from a windstorm impacting the entire Puget Sound area were too dangerous for actors and patrons.

“We were watching the doppler, and then trees and branches were falling down over the trail,” Sammamish Rotary President Cary Young said. “We couldn’t keep the trail lit and we were worried about the safety of our actors and patrons.”

Security personnel worked to clear the entire trail, with about 120 actors and about 400 patrons sent to either the baseball field entrance or the Beaver Lake lodge. Evacuations took approximately 15 minutes, according to Young, with all guests and personnel out of the park within an hour and a half. There were no injuries reported.

Emergency crews were called when a transformer box exploded and caught fire near the lodge, leaving more than half of the trail without power when Sammamish Rotary and Scare Production crews showed up Sunday morning. Despite widespread wind damage throughout the park, there was no significant damage to the sets. Crews spent much of Sunday on clean up, opening on time at 7 p.m. that night, with much of the trail running on generators.

“I’m really proud of our crew … I didn’t think we’d be able to put on a show, and they just rallied so fast,” Young said. “Things that had to be done were done, and we had a great show.”

Evacuated patrons who paid by cash were given refunds. Those who paid online were given the choice of a refund at the ticket booth; a refund through Brown Paper Tickets, the show’s online ticket vendor; or to redeem their ticket for a free run-through on another night.

“Nightmare at Beaver Lake” wraps up on Halloween night Friday, Oct. 31. For more information, visit www.nightmareatbeaverlake.com.