Fire alarm leads to brief evacuation of FedEx Forum in Memphis
By Phil Watson
The start of the Martin Luther King Day game between the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies was not affected by a fire alarm at FedEx Forum.
FedEx Forum was briefly evacuated Monday, about two hours before the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies were set to tip off for a matinee game on Martin Luther King Day.
According to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, smoke from the arena’s kitchen set off a fire alarm, triggering the evacuation of the building.
Everyone had to leave FedEx Forum because there was smoke in the kitchen. But the coast is all clear now. Eerie feeling gone.
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) January 19, 2015
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Sports Legacy Symposium got off to a delayed start, however, according to Chris Herrington of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Symposium (2:30 start) likely delayed. No impact on tip time, per Griz exec.
— Chris Herrington (@ChrisHerrington) January 19, 2015
Not all of the players were in the arena and those that were already there were allowed to remain inside, according to Grizzlies sideline reporter Rob Fischer.
Grizzlies and Mavericks players already in building never evacuated. Security and TV personnel have been allowed back in to FedExForum
— Rob Fischer (@thefishnation) January 19, 2015
Security personnel began letting people back in the arena about 10 minutes after the evacuation began.
There were no reports of damage or injuries.
The last time there was a similar incident was in December 2013, when an NBA Global Games matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs set for Mexico City was postponed after a generator malfunction sent smoke billowing into the building roughly 45 minutes before the scheduled tipoff, per NBA.com.
The game was eventually played in April in Minneapolis.
A scheduled game (via the Minneapolis Star Tribune) at the same facility in Mexico City in November between the Timberwolves and Houston Rockets went off without a hitch.
The NBA had one other game last season postponed and rescheduled. A matchup between the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks scheduled for Jan. 29 was scrubbed because of severe weather conditions in Atlanta and was made up in April.
The NBA also had two games postponed and one cancelled in 2012-13.
The Brooklyn Nets’ first scheduled game in their new home against the New York Knicks was postponed due to lingering effects from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 (per The New York Times) and a game between the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers in December of that year was postponed because of heavy snow in Indianapolis (per The Associated Press).
A game between the Pacers and Boston Celtics in April 2013 was cancelled after the Boston Marathon bombing. It was the first cancelled game in the NBA for a reason other than a labor dispute, according to a release from NBA.com.
The first record of postponed games in NBA annals was three games scheduled for Nov. 22, 1963, that were rescheduled after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
H/T SI.com
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