Fire crews praised as Molineux blaze confined to hospitality suite
Firefighters have been praised for saving Molineux from further damage as Wolves warned the wreckage from an early-hours blaze would need serious repairs.
A fire broke out in the Sir Jack Hayward Suite in the Billy Wright stand in the early hours of Sunday morning and caused "significant" damage to the events area and bar.
But the blaze was prevented from spreading to the rest of the stand thanks to the actions of fire crews who contained the flames to one room and extinguished the fire within two hours.
Wolves have now apologised to nearby residents for the disruption and thanked fire crews for their quick work after being alerted by security staff at the club just before 2am.
The club also confirmed that hospitality ticket holders are likely to be affected while the wreckage in the suite is fixed, as photos were shared on social media which revealed the scale of the damage.
Wolves’ facilities, safety and security director, Steve Sutton, said: “Thank you to the quick and excellent work of West Midlands Fire Service for their prompt assistance in tackling the flames and getting the fire under control as quickly as possible.
“It will take some days to fully assess the damage that has been caused, however it is quite significant and will take some time to repair. Any supporter packages affected for the next game will be communicated by the relevant departments over the coming days.
“The most important thing of course, is that no one was present at the time, apart from our 24-hour security team, and no one was hurt.
“We apologise to residents in the area for the very loud alarms that went off late into the night, but hope they understand their necessity at such a critical time.”
The suite where the fire broke out has views of the pitch and is used for events and conferences, as well as hosting hospitality ticket holders on matchdays.
The next home fixture is against Norwich in the FA Cup fourth round on February 5.
The blaze, which saw smoke pour high into the Wolverhampton sky until around 3.30am, is thought to have been started accidentally by an electrical appliance.
South bank season ticket holder Kyle Hughes was among the concerned supporters awake watching as smoke poured from his beloved Molineux.
He was watching with his family, having moved into a new flat nearby on Saturday.
The 24-year-old said: "I was thinking 'my goodness', first night in here, my son is awake and all I can hear is loud sirens going off - and then I find my football club stadium is on fire."
He called 999 but fire crews had already been alerted and were on scene within minutes.
"When we came out onto the balcony you could hear the loud alarms, I'm sure you could hear it for miles around," Mr Hughes added.
"It was quite emotional and worrying seeing it get worse and worse like that. We were concerned because we thought there might have been people inside."
Waterloo Road was closed as crews from Wolverhampton, Fallings Park, Willenhall and Bilston fought the flames.
