Fire Temporarily Closes Bethayres Market

Bethayres Market, 650 Welsh Rd., was forced to temporarily close down Monday after a malfunctioning air handler on the roof caught fire shortly before noon. The Huntingdon Valley Fire Company responded to the call from a store employee.

The HV Fire Company and store manager Jim Traub confirmed flames did not spread from the air conditioner handler and no customers were harmed during the incident. There was no damage to the market, either.

A Bethayres Market employee first discovered smoke coming through the vents around lunchtime with about 15 people in the store. And then another employee named Nick Margiotta possibly saved the store from suffering more damage by turning off the heating unit in prompt fashion.

"We were closed for about an hour," Traub said. "It was a normal amount of people in there, around 15 people I guess ... One of our people was in the break room and smoke started coming out of the vents. So she told someone, and then (Nick Margiotta) called the Fire Department and shut off the heating unit, which was great, because that I think probably stopped it from getting worse."

The store reopened shortly after the HV Fire Company left the site and is currently operating under normal store hours.

The malfunctioning part on the roof top of the store is expected to fixed in the next couple of days as the store waits for an estimate.

"I think there's a piece of plastic that caught on fire, so we got some smoke," Traub said., "The Fire Company was called and they got up there and they determined that's what it was. I called our contractor and he confirmed it also."

For now, there is no air or heat in the market, but the products in the store are still safe, according to Traub.

"For this time of year, it's not a risk at this time. So we're just waiting and it should be fixed soon," Traub said.