The Friday night football game between Illinois and Nebraska will go on despite at fire the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium Tuesday night.
Champaign firefighters were dispatched for an automatic alarm at the Fighting Illini football stadium around 8 p.m. and found heavy smoke coming from the maintenance area when they arrived.
Champaign Fire Department Public Information Officer Randy Smith told WCIA.com, firefighters called for a second alarm to contain the fire, located in the horseshoe area of the stadium.
Workers heard an explosion in the stadium, just before they saw the smoke.
Smith believes the fire started in a Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) used by the groundskeepers.
Officials said the firefighter who was injured suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
