At the Wexford vs. Galway Allianz Hurling League Division 1 game on Saturday afternoon, the Main stand caught fire, forcing fans to leave Chadwicks Wexford Park.
Fans were kept waiting outside the stadium for 15 to 20 minutes while match play was postponed by 15 minutes.
Gavin O’Donovan, CEO of Wexford GAA, claimed that the evacuation went without a hitch and that there was “no panic” throughout the incident, despite some match attendees complaining on social media about the poor handling of the situation.
“There was only a small bit of smoke and the air handling vent is damaged but there was no damage to the room that it was in. Nobody was hurt or injured as a result”.
He praised the emergency services’ quick response to the incident, however, a Wexford County Fire Service spokesperson said that the fire’s cause appeared to be electrical, RTÉ News reported.
He claimed that after an air conditioning system caught fire, smoke emerged from a vent. Following this, the stadium’s main power supply was out for a while.
The fire officer deemed the problem to be under control, so the throw-in at the match was postponed until 5.15 p.m.