Last week’s fire took a “significant” toll on the Denver Broncos‘ Mile High Stadium to the point that the repairs to the burned area may not be done by the time the next NFL season rolls around.
On Monday, Broncos CEO Joe Ellis said that it will be a “real challenge” to replace the damaged seats and charred suites that were burned up in the blaze. According to Ellis, about 14 luxury boxes were damaged, and “a couple hundred seats.”
“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 told the Denver Post.
The CEO says the damage also harmed the structure of the stadium itself.
“The heat from the fire, once it got going, those risers buckled,” Ellis explained. “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.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
The fire engulfed about 1,000 square feet and has been deemed accidental. Denver Fire said the sprinkler system was working properly and no one was hurt in the blaze.
The team may have let Russ cook a little too early after trading for him.
