UPDATE: Wednesday, 11:42 a.m.:
A fire in a second-floor projector room in the United Artists Theater outside the Oxford Valley Mall in Middletown that left one man injured was caused by an electrical problem, an investigator said.
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Fire Marshal Jim McGuire told LevittownNow.com a man working on the electrical box suffered burns to his hands, head and face around 8:50 a.m. Wednesday. Fire crews arrived to find the injured man and arc burns around the panel.
A PennStar medical helicopter flew the injured man to Temple University Hospital’s burn unit, according to officials. McGuire said he was unsure of the man’s condition.
Langh0rne-Middletown Fire Company Chief Frank Farry and McGuire both said the fire took time to officially put under control due to the detailed process required to shut off electric to the panel. The fire marshal said that during the hour it took to shut down the power systems, the panel flared up from time to time.
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PECO and theater staff worked to shut down the building’s power systems while emergency crews were on the scene.
A movie theater employee was in the projection room when the incident happened and was uninjured, McGuire said.
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Jim Bamfield of the fire marshal’s office was dispatched to Temple Hospital to try to speak with the burn victim, whose condition was unknown as of press time.
Crews from the Falls Township, Fairless Hills, Langhorne-Middletown, Penndel, William Penn and Yardley-Makefield fire companies responded to the scene along with Middletown police and medics from the Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad.
Original Story:
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An employee at the United Artists Theater at the Oxford Valley Mall in Middletown suffered burns in a fire Wednesday morning.
Credit: Jen Kelly Flannery/Submitted
An official said the fire was caused by am electrical fire in the projection room and left the man with the serious burns.
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The incident happened shortly before 9 a.m. and was quickly extinguished. However, a fire official said flare ups kept happening for a while after.
Fire crews from around Middletown rushed to the scene and blocked off a portion of the mall parking lot so a PennStar medical helicopter could land.
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The condition of the victim and what hospital they were flown to were not known as of press time.
