Spark From Welding Caused Fire At New Rangers Stadium, Won't Delay Opening
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) — Arlington firefighters said on Monday that a spark from welding ignited Saturday's two alarm fire at Globe Life Field.
Manhattan Construction also announced it doesn't anticipate any delay in the opening of the Texas Rangers' new $1.2 billion stadium that is scheduled to open in March.
Lt. Mike Joiner of the Arlington Fire Department said, "This was just an accident. Some times, things just happen at all the right time."
A CBS 11 viewer provided exclusive video which shows flames in the stadium.
WATCH: Exclusive Video Of Arlington Firefighters Putting Out Flames At New Rangers Stadium
Lt. Joiner said the spark from welding landed onto a pile of wood and cardboard on a sub-roof near the fifth floor, about 100 feet up.
"It ignited those combustibles and quickly became a pretty large fire," Joiner said. "Usually, fires start small. This — after it ignited — went up pretty quick. We had visible plumes from a large distance."
Manhattan Construction said the fire damaged about 2,000 square feet of roof area, and that it will be removed, inspected and replaced.
The firm said an initial assessment shows they will also need to replace a limited amount of metal decking that was damaged.
Workers, such as industrial painter Eric Craig, told CBS 11 they were working above the fire and had to escape.
"I got down so fast because it was hot. It was hot so they just made everyone get down," Craig said.
"It was pretty scary, pretty intense. We did our best to bring everyone down, bring everyone down safely," another painter, Jose Camarena said.
Lt. Joiner said firefighters could concentrate on fighting the fire because of the good job construction supervisors did.
"The Manhattan supervisors were on scene helping with accountability and evacuations which really took a lot of that priority," Joiner said. "We could isolate that and the fire, and that was a big deal."
He also credited Manhattan Construction and the Rangers for allowing firefighters to train at the stadium daily as it's being built.
He said their training and workers' actions helped prevent the fire from spreading further.
It took 37 minutes to get the fire under control.
