Two moviegoers got an extra taste of action Tuesday night — and not just from their choice to view "Captain America: Brave New World."
During a showing of the latest Marvel flick at Liberty Cinema in downtown Wenatchee, Washington, the theater's ceiling collapsed onto the audience, local officials said.
The Wenatchee Fire Department responded at about 8 p.m. Tuesday, finding two people in attendance. It said in a statement that no injuries were reported.
"Talk about an interactive movie experience... just not the kind you want!" the department said in a statement.
Photos from the first responders show the movie still being projected on the screen, but with a heap of snapped planks and ceiling tiles covering the front of the theater. A video from the fire department shows the spread of long, wooden planks poking up toward the gaping ceiling.
Sun Basin Theatres, which owns the cinema in downtown Wenatchee, in Chelan County in central Washington, said the collapse was "unexpected."
"We are all grateful that no one was injured when this occurred on Tuesday evening," spokesperson Bryan Cook told NBC News in a statement.
Cook added that the theater's team is working with local authorities "to ensure a thorough investigation."
Wenatchee Valley Fire Battalion Chief Cam Phillips, who responded to the scene Tuesday night, told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle that a couple had the theater to themselves before the untimely collapse.
“They heard some pops and cracking, and the gentleman stood up and took a peek,” Phillips told the station. “[He] walked up toward the screen, and as he looked up, he said, ‘Run!’”
Phillips added that the man's girlfriend didn't have time to react before the ceiling started to fall down around her, leaving her to be found covered in debris in her seat just one row behind the jumble of wood and insulation.
“We are really fortunate that this didn’t happen on a Friday night or a Saturday night when the theater was full,” Phillips told KING.
He told KING that the pair were lucky to have made it out unharmed, adding that "this was a best-case scenario on a bad situation."
