Fire breaks out at Illinois’ Memorial Stadium Tuesday evening

Illinois’ Memorial Stadium dealt with a fire Tuesday, according to the university’s alert system and multiple reporters on site.

Kevin Lighty with WCIA3 CBS reported it as a 2-alarm working fire as of 9:20 p.m. ET. Lighty also reported “lots of firefighters” working on the scene with reports of heavy smoke in the area.

In a separate post, Lighty reported Memorial Stadium was at least “partially on fire” with smoke visibly pouring out from the lower level of the stadium’s south side. A cause for the fire has not been announced as of yet.

Little info, but a 2 alarm working fire from @ChampaignFire at Memorial Stadium as seen from our weather camera. Lots of firefighters on scene. Reports of heavy smoke in the area. pic.twitter.com/od4BH5WXCY

— Kevin Lighty – WCIA 3 Chief Meteorologist (@KevinLighty) October 4, 2023

Memorial Stadium, where the Fighting Illini play football and are schedule to play Nebraska on Friday, is at least partially on fire. Smoke can be seen pouring out from the the lower level on the south side of the stadium. We have a crew working to get more info. pic.twitter.com/FcCgRT9I6T

— Kevin Lighty – WCIA 3 Chief Meteorologist (@KevinLighty) October 4, 2023

The good news is that Illinois’ emergency alert system has since reported the fire has been put out. Crews remain on site as of late Tuesday evening.

Illini-Alert. The fire at 1402 S First St, Champaign has been put out but fire crews remain on scene working. Please continue to avoid the area.

— Illini-Alert (@IlliniAlert) October 4, 2023

As of now, Illinois is supposed to host Nebraska for a Friday night matchup in Week 6. Stay tuned for more updates.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.