Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, the home of the Denver Broncos, caught fire on Thursday afternoon, according to CBS Sports. Numerous videos on social media showed the stadium filled with smoke and flames. CBS Denver said the source of the smoke may have come from the suite level, which opened in 2001 and re-branded in 2019. The Denver Fire Department confirmed a fire inside a stadium and announced that they have started extinguishing flames on the suite and third levels.
According to CBS Denver, a man on a tour of Mile High Stadium said the saw once chair caught fire. The tour guide called 911 as the fire began to spread. “A small fire that occurred in a construction zone near the East Club Lounge at Empower Field at Mile High has been contained by [Denver Fire Department],” Mile High Stadium’s Twitter account wrote. “That area of the stadium was quickly evacuated as a precaution and there were no injuries sustained.”
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The fire at the Broncos’ home stadium comes after the team made some big changes. In January, the Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett to be their head coach. And last week, the Broncos made a blockbuster trade where they acquired quarterback Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos gave up two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick and three players in the deal.
“I came here for one reason,” Wilson said during his introductory press conference. “I came here for one reason. And that’s to win. And that’s what I believe in. So every day, what you’re going to get from me is that mentality. You’re going to get that juice, you’re going to get that energy, you’re going to get that focus — and we’re going to do it together. … We’re here for one thing, and that’s to win. It’s to win at the highest level often.”
“Once we knew that Russell could be available, he was our No. 1 target,” Broncos general manager George Paton said. “He was our priority for the offseason. We were going to do anything it took to get Russ. It’s just unique that you can trade [for] a quarterback, a franchise quarterback, in his prime, and we just felt we had to take that chance.”
