Raptors, Pacers game resumes without fans following suspension due to fire at Scotiabank Arena
CBC
The Toronto Raptors game against the visiting Indiana Pacers on Saturday will continue without fans after being suspended for 70 minutes and spectators having to evacuate due to a speaker fire at Scotiabank Arena.
Fans were ordered to leave the building with 4:05 left in the first half, and the Raptors up 66-38.
An hour later, players returned to the court for a 10-minute warmup before finishing the first half. Halftime was to be cut to seven-and-a-half minutes.
A Raptors spokesperson described it as a "small electrical fire" and video showed an overhead speaker on fire above Section 103 in the east end of the arena. The concern, according to the spokesperson, was about the smell and the smoke.
A fire official in a harness hung from the arena ceiling with a fire extinguisher, ensuring the troublesome speaker fire was no longer a danger.
The first sign something was amiss was late in the first quarter when fans in the upper bowl of the east grandstand noticed smoke. A lower-bowl section was evacuated, and then firefighters gathered in the empty section, staring up at the ceiling. Minutes later, another lower bowl section was instructed to leave.
WATCH | Raptors, Pacers game suspended due to fire:
Public address announcer Herbie Kuhn was instructed to turn his mic off for safety purposes for several minutes. He could be heard testing the system multiple times late in the second quarter, but the main speakers above the stands didn't appear to be operating.
Late in the second quarter, after fire officials gathered with referees and teams on the court, the players headed to the locker-rooms.
Eventually, Kuhn announced the Toronto Fire Services' evacuation order. Fans booed loudly at the announcement.
The Raptors said tickets will be refunded at point of purchase within 30 days.
The game is key to Toronto's playoff hopes.
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.
Registered nurses rallied in St. John's Wednesday as part of a week-long convention, again calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to create permanent solutions to staff shortages and workplace violence.