Reality Enters Virtual World

Updated from 2:48 p.m. EST

A virtual-world rally against the Darfur conflict had to be rescheduled Friday as the impact of a life-threatening event in the real world was felt in Second Life.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Lichtenstein Creative Media, an independent media-production company that organized a Second Life exhibit titled, "Our Walls Bear Witness -- Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?" had to be evacuated following an electrical fire that left some of the building's workers trapped on a rooftop.

The Boston Globe was reporting that an NStarNST employee was killed and close to 100 people were being treated for smoke inhalation. It was also reported that the MBTA's railway line between Park Street in Boston and Central Square in Cambridge was temporarily shut down.

The Second Life exhibit was to be unveiled Friday on The Infinite Mind private island by actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow, as well as John Heffernan, director of the Genocide Prevention Initiative for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience, and Ron Haviv, the award-winning photojournalist whose images were on display.

Minutes before the event was to kick off, however, Heffernan was given the unfortunate task of informing attendees that the event would have to be rescheduled due to the fire emergency.

"We just received a call from the company that is hosting this event at The Infinite Mind, and there has been a major fire emergency in their building which has resulted in a power outage throughout their entire block," said Heffernan. "For the safety of their employees, they have been instructed to evacuate the area. The upshot is that we will have to reschedule this event."