On day two of the 2023 MrQ UK Championship, a firefighter stands outside the York Barbican while play is halted due to a fire alert (Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
A fire at York Barbican has forced players and spectators to flee while the UK Snooker Championship is delayed.
Last night (November 26), as the fire department raced to the scene and alarms went off, players and spectators who had just been minutes away from returning to first-round action were evacuated from the arena.
“The Fire Brigade identified a small fire in the reception of the York Barbican,” the World Snooker Tour said. The structure has now been deemed safe for spectators and athletes to reenter after it was extinguished.
According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, they received a call at 6:55 p.m.
“York, Acomb, and Huntington crews attended a building, following a report of smoke inside,” a spokeswoman stated.
The crew discovered an overheated ventilation fan upon arrival.
“Using a thermal image camera, the crew performed an examination, and staff members turned off the fan’s electricity. There was advice given.
Following an approximate one-hour wait, during which the athletes were escorted to a neighboring bar for warming, the matches between Shaun Murphy and Hossein Vafaei and Ali Carter and Matthew Selt were scheduled to begin.
Day two of the MrQ UK Championship 2023 at the York Barbican features snooker player Shaun Murphy sitting in a nearby pub waiting for play to restart following a fire inside the Barbican Theatre (Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire).
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