Monday, April 29, 2013

Scoreboard fire delays football match

Speakers on top of the scoreboard at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio overheated and caught fire on Saturday. Fans were forced to evacuate just as the match between the Columbus Crew and D.C. United  was about to start at around 7:15pm.



Firefighters responded within minutes to put out the fire. A ladder was raised the top of the scoreboard to spray water directly on the burning area. (Video).



Meteorologist Josh Poland was serving as an announcer for the game when the fire started. He said since the sound system was burning, it presented problems to try to inform the crowd about the need to evacuate.


YouTube link. Additional news video.

"At that time, they wanted us to announce to the people in the stadium that they needed to exit that area, but it was the speakers that had been on fire. And the speaker system was down, so we couldn't make that announcement," Poland said. There were no injuries.

Many thanks John K!

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