Why won't the built in flash on my Nikon D3100 pop up?

One day, the flash just stopped popping up. Now when i take a pic needing flash it goes off while still attached to the body and is burning plastic.

There may be a problem with the mechanism that releases the pop up flash. I recommend that you take it into your local camera shop. It may be a tiny thing or a big problem, its hard to tell without looking at at.

It is broken - you need to get it fixed before it destroys the viewfinder housing.