A fire on the construction site of the SAP Garden in the Olympic Park kept the Munich fire brigade in suspense for hours on Wednesday afternoon. The fire broke out in the arena’s underground car park and developed heavy smoke. The fire brigade initially assumed several injuries and missing construction workers and were finally able to save 14 people from the building unharmed.
Work on the construction site was already largely normal again on Thursday morning, as Dominik Böhner, spokesman for the operating company, which belongs to the Red Bull Group, said: “We were lucky in misfortune. The fire was spectacular, mainly because of the smoke.” According to him, insulating materials had caught fire in the seven-story building at a storage location for reasons that are still unknown. The source of the fire was limited to an area of two by three meters and the damage, according to the first assessment, was sooty concrete. Power lines or the like were not affected.
The construction workers who were brought to safety worked on the floor below the fire floor and did not notice the fire at all, said a fire department spokesman. All were led away from work through the smoke with escape hoods and examined by the rescue service. Nobody had to be taken to the hospital.
According to the arena operator, insulation materials caught fire, which led to heavy smoke development.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
The fire brigade then rescued 14 people from the building.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
According to initial findings, the fire has had no major impact on construction progress.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
At 3:25 p.m., the fire brigade finally reported: “The fire has been extinguished.” However, large areas still had to be smoked out with mobile fans and large fans well into the evening hours. Around 180 fire and rescue services were at the scene of the fire. The first responders from the fire brigade and rescue service were able to leave again around 4:15 p.m.
In future, ice hockey and basketball games will be played by professional Munich teams in the sports arena currently under construction. The completion of the construction work for the arena with up to 11,500 seats is planned for spring 2024. An official opening date has not yet been set, but advance season ticket sales for the 2024/25 ice hockey season have already started. Because of the fire, the operator does not expect major delays.