Chaos at the MCG as Collingwood game halted, fans told to leave

There was mass confusion at the MCG as play in the Collingwood-Crows game stopped and footy fans tried to evacuate.

Everyone was moving out calmly.

Thousands of fans storming the SCG may not be the most chaotic thing we see at the footy this weekend.

There was mass confusion at the MCG on Saturday as Collingwood took on Adelaide when the fire alarm went off early in the second quarter.

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The siren blared, spectators were told via loudspeaker to calmly exit the stadium and play stopped. Confused players were instructed by umpires to head to the middle of the ground and the coaches boxes were being evacuated too.

Umpires were then heard telling both teams to go into their changerooms.

“This is extraordinary,” Anthony Hudson said in commentary for Fox Footy.

The players didn’t know what to do.

The stands started to empty.

Everyone was moving out calmly.

About a minute after the initial warning, the siren stopped sounding and soon after a message appeared on the big screens telling everyone it was a “false alarm”.

Fans returned to their seats and it wasn’t long before play got back underway.

The MCG released a statement addressing the saga as the game edged towards halftime, with Collingwood going to the main break ahead by 23 points.

“Today at approximately 2.24pm the MCG emergency evacuation system was automatically triggered in a food outlet on level 4 of the Ponsford Stand,” it read.

“An investigation into the issue was immediately commenced and no evidence of risk to patrons was detected.

“Venue management was able to stop the evacuation procedure and allow patrons back into the venue after approximately five minutes.

“The MCC sincerely apologises for the inconvenience to patrons and the competing Clubs.”

The MCC later explained in a statement: “What we know at this stage is that during the course of usual operations, a sprinkler activated in a food outlet on Level 4 of the Ponsford Stand, towards the end of the quarter time break. The water from the sprinkler hit an oven which was in use, creating steam.

“As part of our standard safety procedures, the operation of a sprinkler activates the Emergency Evacuation System. In usual circumstances, once an incident of this nature is investigated and found to have no risk to patrons, the alarm system is isolated by our operators and the automated evacuation procedure is suspended. The MCC will conduct a full review of the operating system, to understand why the automated evacuation of the venue was not suspended.

“The MCC sincerely apologises to members, patrons, the competing Clubs and AFL for the disruption to the match.”

Here’s something you don’t see every weekend. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Thankfully the exodus didn’t continue. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Phew. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The dramatic scenes come after the SCG was flooded with fans on Friday night when Buddy Franklin kicked his 1000th career goal — becoming just the sixth person in AFL/NFL history to achieve the feat.

The Swans’ game against Geelong was stopped for more than 20 minutes as the crowd went wild following Franklin’s major late in the fourth term.

Meanwhile, Collingwood fired a shot on Saturday before the first bounce, taking aim at Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes with their game day banner after he criticised young gun Jack Ginnivan for filming his celebrations after a round one win over St Kilda.

A hidden message in Collingwood’s banner for the Crows game referred to Cornes as the “fun police”.

Originally published as Chaos at the MCG as Collingwood game halted, fans told to leave