RetroSimba

A midsummer evening in Atlanta got too hot to handle for the Cardinals.

On July 20, 1993, a fire erupted in an unoccupied club-level suite at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium before a game between the Cardinals and Braves.

Smoke poured through the press box and into the concourses, burning debris fell onto field-level seats and five suites were destroyed, according to multiple published reports.

The fire burned for 25 minutes before it was extinguished. One firefighter was taken to a hospital suffering from heat exhaustion and as many as 10 others were treated on the scene for heat-related issues, the Associated Press reported. No fans, stadium personnel or team personnel were injured.

Eleven fire engines, with water-pumping equipment, and six fire trucks responded and about 3,000 spectators were evacuated while firefighters battled the blaze.

After it was determined the stadium structure was sound, spectators were allowed back in and the game began two hours after its scheduled starting time. A section of 10,000 seats were declared unavailable. The fire started from a Sterno can used to heat food, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Smoke no joke

Most Cardinals players and staff ran to the outfield as the fire raged. KMOX broadcaster Mike Shannon and engineer Colin Jarrette, though, were in a radio booth and too close for comfort to the fire.

“Colin and I had to inhale the smoke when it broke out,” Shannon said to the Post-Dispatch. “We could see the fire 200 or so feet from us. Then the smoke got in behind us and trapped us in. The smoke came through the rafters and hallway behind us. We couldn’t see anything. The security guards yelled at us to get out.”

Shannon was able to escape the booth unassisted, but the smoke hampered Jarrette.

“The guards came up and had to escort Colin out,” Shannon said. “They put a towel around his head. I wasn’t frightened that I wouldn’t make it out. There was only about 15 feet from where we were to get out the back, but it was a thick, black, nasty smoke.”

The game was supposed to be shown on the Cardinals’ television network, but the telecast was canceled because several cables got burned by fire. KMOX did carry the game on the Cardinals’ radio network, though it was difficult for the broadcast team to work in the damaged radio booth.

“We really never should have done that game,” said broadcaster Jack Buck, who was on the field when the fire started. “Everything was covered with soot. It was dirty. It was filthy.”

Said Jarrette: “There was a lot of smoke damage. There were ashes settled all over the equipment.”

Shannon wore a surgical mask for parts of the game; Buck didn’t, and the next day, “I was spitting up black stuff all day long,” Buck said.

Boom, boom

When the fire started at 5:55 p.m., 90 minutes before game time, the Braves were taking batting practice and the Cardinals were doing stretching and warmups on the field. An explosive sound sent players and staff from both teams scurrying to the outfield as the suite burned above the third-base line.

“We were trying to get as far away as possible,” Cardinals manager Joe Torre said. “I was just afraid that after the explosion there would be some glass flying.”

Braves player Otis Nixon told the Associated Press, “It was like a 60-yard dash to the outfield. I never saw (manager) Bobby Cox run so fast.”

Fire department officials determined the loud sound was a girder breaking, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Show must go on

The game matched starting pitchers Tom Glavine of the Braves and Rene Arocha of the Cardinals. The Cardinals scored three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth and led 5-0 until the Braves rallied in the sixth against Arocha on a three-run home run by Jeff Blauser and a two-run home run by Fred McGriff, tying the score at 5-5. McGriff was playing in his first game for the Braves since being acquired from the Padres in a trade.

“You throw it belt-high here and a lot of bad things can happen,” said Torre.

In the eighth, the Braves scored three times against reliever Rheal Cormier and won, 8-5. Boxscore

The Cardinals were held scoreless over the final 4.2 innings by four relievers _ Steve Bedrosian, Greg McMichael, Mark Wohlers and Mike Stanton.

“I hope this is an omen that the Braves will get hot,” Braves owner Ted Turner, who attended the game with wife Jane Fonda, said to the Atlanta Constitution.