DENVER, Colo. (KMGH) — A fire burned a portion of the seating area at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Thursday afternoon, sending a large smoke plume above the stadium.
Greg Pixley with the Denver Fire Department said around 2:15 p.m., the department received a report of a fire and fire alarm activation in Mile High.
At the time of the fire, there was an event on the second level involving about 100 people, Pixley said. They were all able to safely leave the area.
Once 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.
According to the Twitter account for Empower Field, the fire broke out in a construction zone. 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. MDT, but crews are working to determine whether it spread anywhere else, Pixley said. Investigators will determine if the fire caused any structural damage to the stadium.
It burned about 1,000 square feet, Pixley estimated.
The cause of the fire is unknown, DFD said.
Nobody was injured, according to Empower Field and Pixley.
Empower Field at Mile High is the home of the Denver Broncos.
The stadium is also used for other sporting events and concerts during the NFL's offseason.
This story was originally reported by Stephanie Butzer on thedenverchannel.com.
