City of Greater Bendigo Capital venues and events manager David Lloyd said prior to last night, the fire brigade had only ever been called for false alarms.

He said there was a sprinkler located directly above the tea towels.

“The sprinkler did its job and the fire was out in no time at all,” he said.

Following the fire, Mr Lloyd said the Ulumbarra team came together and pitched in to make sure the theatre was ready for its two shows today.

“It was really great that it all came together so quickly,” he said.

The team worked until 10pm and Mr Lloyd said changes would be made to ensure a similar fire didn’t happen again.

EARLIER: Freshly dried tea towels put away too soon was the cause of a small fire at Ulumbarra last night.

Firefighters were called to the Gaol Road theatre just after 6pm and found the sprinkler system active in the kitchen.

The fire was out by the time crews arrived and no damage was done to the kitchen.

Bendigo Senior Station Officer Tim Bruechert said the hot tea towels had been taken out of the dryer hours earlier, folded and stacked too soon.

He warned damp, hot clothes that weren’t separated could continue to generate heat and spontaneously combust.

“Just make sure any clothes you dry are cool and separated before being put away,” he said.

No one was present at the theatre at the time of the fire.

Golden Square fire brigade also attended with its salvage unit along with the Bendigo trucks.