The Flourtown Fire Company and the Oreland volunteer Fire Company responded at 11:04am on Tuesday, March 18 to an appliance fire at the Flourtown Shopping Center’s Movie Tavern (1800 block of Bethlehem Pike).

The company said that a professional size popcorn maker had caught fire and tripped the sprinkler system in the kitchen area.

After battling light to medium smoke throughout the kitchen and hallway, several teams took care of the open sprinkler system “which is a situation that requires getting very, very wet and shutting the sprinkler system off and getting a wedge in there to stop the flow of water,” the company said.

Salvage and overhaul included sweeping the floors and opening the damaged wall.

“Due to the quick action of the staff, the fire protection systems, i.e. sprinkler system, there was no considerable damage to the building and it should be opened in a reasonable amount of time,” the company said. “It was closed for additional cleaning and an inspection by the Montgomery County health department, which is a normal thing during a fire in a place that serves food. Companies returned about 12:30 after cleaning their own equipment and ready to respond again.”

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Photos: Flourtown Fire Company