DENVER — A fire burned a portion of the seating area at Empower Field at Mile High on Thursday afternoon, sending a large smoke plume above the stadium.
Greg Pixley, public information officer with the Denver Fire Department, said around 2:15 p.m., the department received a report of a fire and fire alarm activation at Mile High.
The stadium was empty, but there was an event on the second level involving about 100 people, Pixley said. They were all able to safely leave the area.
Once fire crews entered the stadium, they found a fire burning in the suite area on level four and in the seating area on the third level, Pixley said. He said the plastic seats produced a dark smoke plume due to the petrol products.
According to the Twitter account for Empower Field, the fire broke out in a construction zone.
One man who was on a tour from Delaware visiting Empower Field for the first time gave me this video. Shows the fire starting with a single seat on fire. He says staff were quick and calm to evacuate them safely. @DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/4sRNt8xReO
— Ivan Rodriguez (@IvanRodriguezTV) March 24, 2022
Pixley said he did not know about any maintenance being done at the stadium, but that's something fire investigators will look into.
Pixley said a sprinkler system activated, but firefighters were called in to completely extinguish the fire. He said they were lucky that the sprinklers held the fire "in check" while crews drove to the scene.
About 75 firefighters responded, he said.
The fire was under control as of 2:43 p.m., but crews are working to determine it didn't spread anywhere else, Pixley said. Investigators will determine if the fire damaged the stadium in any structural way.
It burned about 1,000 square feet, Pixley estimated.
The cause of the fire is unknown, DFD said. Pixley said Friday that it was accidental, but the investigation is still underway.
Nobody was injured, according to Empower Field and Pixley.
Pixley thanked the people who saw the smoke plume and reported it to 911.
The old Mile High Stadium went up in flames in January 2002 during the stadium's demolition, according to The Denver Post. It was started by a welder's torch. Nobody was injured in the 2002 fire.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
