DENVER (KDVR) — Denver Firefighters have ruled Thursday’s fire inside Empower Field at Mile High was accidental. That fire, which started in a construction zone, burned dozens of seats and damaged some suite areas on the fourth level.
Rustin Williams was on a tour inside the stadium when someone on the tour noticed the blaze.
“A kid from one of the tours said, ‘Hey, look over there, that chair’s on fire,'” Williams said. “So we look, and there’s one or two chairs on fire and we’re like, um, I don’t think that’s part of the tour or anything.”
Williams said the tour was quickly evacuated as firefighters began to arrive.
“As soon as we got to the hallway, we saw the first fire truck pull up,” he said. “So they were pretty quick to respond.”
Denver Fire Capt. Greg Pixley said engines were on scene within 4 minutes, dragging hundreds of feet of hose up staircases to the third level.
Pixley said firefighters from nearby fire stations routinely do walk-throughs at the stadium, which allowed them to quickly secure hoses and begin fighting the fire.
“We don’t just sit around that firehouse playing checkers,” Pixley said. “Firefighters frequently inspect these buildings. They work every so often to ensure that they remember where the fire protection connections are, so they can hook their hoses up to add water to the sprinkler systems.”
Pixley said roughly 40 fire trucks and close to 75 firefighters worked the blaze, which was out in less than an hour. He said while this was an unusual situation, it highlights the need to be prepared for anything.
“This was not a fire that we fight every day,” he said. “This could have been really bad.”