Wimbledon's Centre Court evacuated after small fire

LONDON — A small electrical fire broke out inside Wimbledon’s Centre Court building yesterday (July 1), causing an evacuation after play had ended for the day.

The fire started inside a mechanical room in the east side of the building, All England Club spokesman Johnny Perkins said. There were no reports of injuries.

Emergency vehicles arrived shortly after the fire alarm went off, and a public address announcement at around 9pm told everyone in or near the stadium to leave the area. At about 10.45pm, the fire trucks left the All England Club again and Perkins said the situation was under control.

He said it was not immediately clear whether the incident would have any effect on today’s matches. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both set to play their respective second-round matches in the stadium.

Serena Williams had just finished off her win over Timea Babos on Centre Court and was holding a news conference in an adjacent building when the evacuation began. It was not interrupted.

No smoke could be seen from outside Centre Court. AP