Emergency workers responded to multiple fires reported at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. There were no injuries reported. DC Fire and EMS were alerted about a fire at the multi-purpose stadium, which was the former home of Washington's NFL team and MLS team DC United, at around 5:20 p.m. ET. It took units about 30 minutes to put it out, and then some more time to clear out the smoke.
The fire was officially declared under control after about an hour.
Working Fire RFK Stadium. #DCsBravest have located several fires in below grade levels in the stadium. In the process of extinguishing same. No injuries reported. Investigators enroute. pic.twitter.com/RguAa8KPeM
— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) July 5, 2022
There were at least two fires going on at the same time and the building looked very smoky from the outside, but Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly Sr. said the incident was mostly basement level and not as serious as it might have appeared. He addressed the media in the parking lot shortly after the situation was under control.
"It was trickling up through the stadium out of different pathways. It's a pretty open-air stadium. Where the fire was, it's opened all the way up, so it's going to happen," he said when asked about all the smoke. "Today with the heat and humidity, the air is dense so it's hard to move smoke out of all the different rooms that are in the basement."
Donnelly said there were no people found in the building when the units arrived, and investigators are still looking at the scene to figure out what exactly was burning. At this point, the cause of the incident is still unknown.
