COLUMBUS – Prior to the Major League Soccer match between the Columbus Crew and D.C. United on Saturday, April 27, the scoreboard on the south side of Crew Stadium caught fire. The Columbus Fire Department made an immediate response and promptly extinguished the small fire, and no injuries were reported during the delay. The match – originally scheduled for a 7:37 p.m. kickoff — was delayed by 50 minutes due to tonight’s events. No further information is available at this time on the cause of the fire, and the club is looking into the matter in conjunction with the appropriate authorities.
“At the moment, we had a fire in the speaker cabinet of the scoreboard. The Columbus Fire Department addressed the situation swiftly,” said Columbus Crew President and General Manager Mark McCullers. “They have the fire under control; in fact they have given us the all-clear to move forward with the game. We are working on some auxiliary sound at the moment and we are going forward with the match. Thankfully there were no injuries whatsoever thanks to our operations staff and the Columbus Fire Department. The safety of our fans, players and all attendees is always the top priority.”
