Things took a bizarre turn in Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
In the middle of the Raptors-Pacers game, everyone was forced to evacuate after a speaker caught fire late into the second quarter of action.
With 4:05 remaining in the first half of a game between the Raptors and Pacers on Saturday, Scotiabank Arena was evacuated due to an electrical fire, resulting in a suspension of play.
Initially, the two sections closest to the fire were evacuated while play continued, but the game was suspended as Toronto’s fire chief recommended the entire arena be evacuated.
Raptors PA announcer Herbie Kuhn addressed those in attendance, saying, “at this time, by order of the fire chief, we are being asked to slowly and calmly evacuate the building. There is no threat to public safety. I’d like to repeat, there is no threat to public safety. The game has been suspended.”
Per the Raptors broadcast, the location of the fire resulted in the evacuation as the firefighters were forced to approach it from underneath.
Pacers-Raptors has been suspended after a speaker caught fire. Everyone has been asked to evacuate Scotiabank Arena. https://t.co/LjQzfDWCos
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 27, 2022
The teams are leaving the court pic.twitter.com/jIKO3Dkp9E
— 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 (@AaronBenRose) March 27, 2022
The Toronto Fire Department did make an appearance on the scene and confirmed nobody was injured in the incident.
FIRE:
Scotiabank Arena
– reports of a speaker on fire at the @ScotiabankArena
– police o/s
– @Toronto_Fire o/s – advised 2 alarm-fire, TFS requesting the arena be evacuated as a precaution
– no reported injuries
– potential road closures in the area
– expect delays#GO565176
^al
— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) March 27, 2022
It was a scary scene that could have caused massive damage, but it’s good to know that it didn’t result in anything serious.
Over the NBA’s 75 year history, plenty of crazy and scary incidents have happened during games. There’s the infamous Malice at the Palace fight, the time a Hawk got loose in Philips Arena, and the time Mark Cuban pulled an April Fools joke in the middle of a game.
In this case, things could have gotten way out of hand. Thankfully, the quick action of the arena officials (and the Toronto Fire Department) prevented disaster.
As for when the game will be continued, the NBA has yet to set a time.
