Fire scare prompts partial evacuation of the MCG during Collingwood vs Crows clash

A minor fire in a food outlet at the MCG this afternoon during the clash between the AFL’s Collingwood FC and the Adelaide Crows has prompted a partial evacuation of the venue.

Fans in parts of the historic venue were advised to evacuate the venue when fire alarms went off early in the second quarter of the game.

Social media posts showed some confusion as the fire siren blared, play stopped and spectators were told via loudspeaker and on the venue’s video screens to calmly exit the stadium.

Players were instructed by umpires to head to the middle of the ground while coaches boxes were also evacuated.

About a minute after the initial warning, the siren stopped sounding and soon after a message appeared on the big screens telling everyone it was a “false alarm”.

Fans returned to their seats and it wasn’t long before play got back underway.

The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) released a statement addressing the issue as the game edged towards halftime, advising “today at approximately 2.24pm the MCG emergency evacuation system was automatically triggered in a food outlet on level 4 of the Ponsford Stand.

“An investigation into the issue was immediately commenced and no evidence of risk to patrons was detected.

“Venue management was able to stop the evacuation procedure and allow patrons back into the venue after approximately five minutes.

“The MCC sincerely apologises for the inconvenience to patrons and the competing Clubs.”

A further statement from the MCC advised that as “ground manager (it) is investigating the incident.”

The later statement added “what we know at this stage is that during the course of usual operations, a sprinkler activated in a food outlet on Level 4 of the Ponsford Stand, towards the end of the quarter time break. The water from the sprinkler hit an oven which was in use, creating steam.

“As part of our standard safety procedures, the operation of a sprinkler activates the Emergency Evacuation System. In usual circumstances, once an incident of this nature is investigated and found to have no risk to patrons, the alarm system is isolated by our operators and the automated evacuation procedure is suspended. The MCC will conduct a full review of the operating system, to understand why the automated evacuation of the venue was not suspended.

“The MCC sincerely apologises to members, patrons, the competing Clubs and AFL for the disruption to the match.”

Last night the SCG was flooded with fans on Friday night when Sydney Swans star Buddy Franklin kicked his 1000th career goal - becoming just the sixth person in AFL/VFL history to achieve the feat.

The Swans’ game against Geelong was stopped for more than 20 minutes as the crowd celebrated Franklin’s achievement late in the fourth quarter.

Image shows Collingwood FC and Adelaide Crows heading to the middle of the MCG during today's fire alarm. Credit: Twitter/Mugway05. Below shows one fan's reaction to events.

Evacuated from the #mcg #collingwoodfc #gopies #falsealarm pic.twitter.com/32Z6ZZM6Lx

— Mugway05