NBA Watch: Raptors game against Pacers delayed due to fire

Well, you don’t see this every night in the NBA. On Saturday, the Raptors game against the Indiana Pacers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto was delayed for a significant amount of time due to a speaker catching on fire. All of the fans in attendance were asked to evacuate the arena as a result. The evacuation was precautionary, as there was no immediate risk to fans in the arena, per Raptors public address announcer Herbie Kuhn.

The Pacers-Raptors game in Toronto has been suspended due to a small electrical fire in a speaker.

All fans were asked to evacuate Scotiabank Arena.

(via @TSN_Sports)pic.twitter.com/yyzV1f7E2s

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 27, 2022

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The stoppage occurred in the second quarter of the contest with the Raptors leading the Pacers 66-38, and lasted for over an hour. Ultimately, the on-court action was resumed, but the fans weren’t permitted to re-enter the arena. The Raptors released the following statement regarding the situation: 

The Pacers-Raptors game in Toronto was suspended and the arena was evacuated due to smoke.

The fire chief declared no threat to public safety. pic.twitter.com/sci7Nyi3LB

— ESPN (@espn) March 27, 2022

Scotiabank Arena has been given the all clear. The game against the Pacers will resume without any fans in the building. Tickets will be refunded within 30 days. We apologize to all of our fans who made it out to the game tonight and we thank our fans for their continued support. 

The situation was a unique one, and it was probably pretty irritating for the fans who went to the game and were forced to leave early. At least they’ll get a refund, though. And Ultimately, the fact that nobody got hurt is the most important thing. You can’t blame the Raptors, or the arena, for erring on the side of caution. The Raptors went on to win the game 131-91.