Cause of Etihad Stadium fire prior to Manchester City’s Champions League finale revealed by emergency services | OneFootball

Emergency services have now confirmed the cause of the fire that disrupted pre-match plans at the Etihad Stadium prior to Manchester City’s meeting with Club Brugge.

Pep Guardiola and his players were forced to take an alternative route into the Etihad Stadium in midweek after a merchandise stand burst into flames just metres from where the club’s three new men’s first-team signings were due to be unveiled to supporters.

Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Vitor Reis were gearing up for an unveiling event and exclusive interviews in front of gathering fans before a blaze by the West Reception of the stadium cancelled plans and forced supporters to be evacuated from the area.

Within minutes of the fire being spotted and supporters being escorted away, emergency services were on scene to deal with the blaze and the situation was under control moments later with no injuries involved.

Manchester City confirmed the incident on their social media channels in the moments after images and videos had circulated across the internet as they penned, “Manchester City FC can confirm that there has been a fire in one of the outside merchandise kiosks, located near the entrance to the Colin Bell West Stand.

“Emergency services are present at the scene and the fire has now been extinguished. The safety of all attending the match tonight is our top priority, and as such all events planned for West Stand reception have been cancelled, including the welcome event for new players, and the first team arrival.”

Now, it has been confirmed that the cause of the fire was due to an electric heater coming into contact with clothing within the merchandise stand, as per a statement released by emergency services in the days that have followed.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) told the Manchester Evening News in a statement, “At around 6pm on Wednesday 29 January, two fire engines from Blackley and Phillips Park fire stations were called to an incident involving a fire and a merchandise unit at the Etihad Stadium, Rowsley Street.”

The statement continued, “Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus arrived quickly and used two hose reels to extinguish the fire which was caused by some clothing accidentally falling onto an electric heater.

“Crews left the scene after approximately 75 minutes.”

Thankfully for Manchester City and events on the field, the club’s UEFA Champions League hopes did not go up in flames as they came from behind to rescue a 3-1 win over Club Brugge thanks to three second-half goals having trailed at the interval.

Pep Guardiola saw the funny side of matters involving his team’s performance and events prior to kick-off at the Etihad Stadium, as he told reporters after the game, “When I saw the fire before the game, at half-time I thought journalists had the headlines already. That’s for sure!”