Fifth Third Ballpark fire sparked by space heater, sprinkler system possibly off, fire chief says

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI -- A space heater used by a work crew likely was the cause of a Friday fire that caused massive damage to Fifth Third Ballpark, and fire officials believe the automatic sprinkler system was deactivated earlier in the day because of a false alarm.

Plainfield Township Fire Chief David Peterson said there was a false alarm at about 5 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, and that the system was shut down at that time.

Several hours later, Peterson said, a work crew was in a stadium suite using a space heater that started a small fire. The workers believed they had extinguished those flames and left the area, Peterson said.

About 11 a.m., the workers returned to find the area -- on the first base side of home plate -- in flames. A fire alarm was sounding, the chief said.

Peterson said he did not believe the suppression system worked properly during the fire.

The fire destroyed up to 12 suites on the first base side of the field, and Peterson estimated the damage at up to $500,000. Firefighters were able to stop the blaze from spreading to the third base size.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison

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Fifth Third Ballpark fire sparked by space heater, sprinkler system possibly off, fire chief says