PALM BEACH, Fla. — Last week's fire inside Empower Field at Mile High damaged "a couple hundred seats," and 12 luxury suites, Broncos president/CEO Joe Ellis said Monday.
Ellis said it will be a "real challenge" to get the seating area and damaged suites ready in time for the Broncos' September regular-season home opener. The Denver Fire Department, which responded to the fire that started in an East Club lounge construction area, said the incident was accidental and further details will be released following an investigation.
"At first glance, we thought it wasn't much of a big deal, but after going to see the damage and witnessing it in-person and spending time with fire inspectors and people from our stadium and the reclamation team that came in, it was a significant event," Ellis said during a break at the NFL's Annual Meeting.
No injuries were reported from the fire.
"Our staff did a great job in what was a serious situation," Ellis said. "Everything worked the way it was supposed to in terms of our sprinkler system and evacuation system, which was important because the fumes from those seats (burning) were incredibly toxic — something I didn't realize was an issue, but it would have been significant for people had they been subjected to it."
Ellis said the Monster Jam and AMA Supercross events will be held April 23 and 30, respectively, as initially scheduled. Before the Broncos' regular season, prominent concerns include Luke Combs (May 21), Red Hot Chili Peppers (July 23), Kenny Chesney (July 30) and The Weeknd (Aug. 18).
"It won't slow down the operations of the stadium; everything will continue to run and be in place for the summer," Ellis said.
Ellis said the repairs are complicated because of the steel risers used in the stadium. The team has insurance to cover any lost revenues due to the fire.
"The heat from the fire, once it got going, those risers buckled," he said. "We'll have to re-fabricate those steel risers in those particular sections and with supply-chain issues around the world and each one is a different dimension because of the way the seating bowl is constructed and contoured, it will take some time to get those replaced and they will have to be replaced."
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