My husband and I made the journey from Denver to AMC Westminster Promenade 24 earlier this month to see the highly anticipated movie about Formula 1 racing, but our screening took a pit stop when a voice on the loudspeaker announced there was an emergency and the packed theater needed to be evacuated.
We later discovered that a fire alarm going off for no apparent reason has become a quintessential AMC Westminster Promenade experience. According to the Westminster Fire Department, officers have responded to that AMC location eleven times since the beginning of 2025, and four times in the last two months.
”Alarms seem to have originated from various locations and no hazards were found," WFD public information officer Emily Peek says.
On social media, there are several posts dedicated to discussing occasions of evacuations at the Westminster AMC, mainly on subreddits dedicated to movies or AMC theaters.
“I've been there twice when the fire alarm has gone off and the whole theatre has been evacuated,” one user commented on a post from two months ago. “Both times, there was seemingly no fire or emergency. I wonder if someone is just pulling the alarm to be a jerk.”
According to Peek, there are many reasons why the alarms could be regularly going off at the theater.
“Oftentimes, it is difficult to determine the exact cause of fire alarms,” Peek says. “They can be due to food prep, construction, dust, and sometimes, nefarious activity.”
. According to the Westminster Fire Department, officers have responded to that AMC location eleven times since the beginning of 2025, and four times in the last two months.
Catie Cheshire
Several people were upset with the interruption, saying the 9 p.m. incident on a Wednesday meant they would be up too late for a worknight if they stayed. Additionally, the restart timeline wasn’t completely clear, leading to some people returning to the theater after the movie had restarted. Luckily for us, F1 wasn’t at a particularly relevant moment when the alarm went off, so those who returned a bit late didn’t miss much — but that may not have been the case for everyone at the theater.
According to another Reddit user, those who left may still be able to receive passes as compensation.
“If you didn’t go back in you should call them and they should give you one,” eddymezgor commented on a post about last week’s incident. “I’ve gone there five times and twice it happened to me. Not fun.”
Westminster Fire responded to the AMC five times in February, including two days in a row on February 23 and February 24. With the exception of a February 14 alarm at 11 a.m., all eleven alarms this year have gone off at night between 6 p.m. and 12:38 a.m.
Alarms also went off at the theater on March 21 and April 22. In April, Westminster Fire issued an order to comply to the AMC at 10655 Westminster Boulevard because of the frequency of alarms in a short period of time.
“The business had their system checked by an alarm company,” Peek says. “They are in compliance and the order was closed.”
But since the order was closed, alarms have sounded four more times. Twice in May, once in June and, most recently, when I was there on July 2. However, according to Peek, those alarms all had different origin points in the alarm system at the theater, so another order to comply is not on the table at this point
“An order to comply could be issued if the alarm was being triggered at the same node/same cause, which could potentially indicate a problem with the alarm system,” Peek explains. “With the separate alarms, there is no cause to issue an order to comply at this time.”
In the meantime, those who want great value for money can always try to snag a movie at the Westminster AMC. After all, if an alarm goes off, you get to go back.
