D.C. Fire and EMS are still investigating the cause of multiple fires that appeared to set a vacant RFK Stadium ablaze late Tuesday afternoon.
The imagery was jarring, as onlookers would have seen an abundance of smoke billowing from the open-air rooftop, but D.C. Fire insists it all stemmed from at least two small fires in the basement level of the stadium.
"It was piles of trash," said D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly, Sr. while briefing the assembled media.
D.C. Fire and EMS responded to a call around 5:20 p.m. and arrived to find smoke emanating from the building. They reportedly had to use buzz saws to breach the locked premises, after which they were quickly able to extinguish the fires. After the fires were extinguished, the building was turned back over to building operator, Events D.C.
No one was hurt in the fires, D.C. Fire says.
RFK Stadium opened in 1961 and once housed the Washington Redskins (1961-96), Senators (1962-71), Nationals (2005-07), D.C. United (1996-2017) and countless other events through the years, but has sat mostly vacant since D.C. United departed for Audi Field.
The future of the site has long served as a political football, with football fans hoping it can serve as the new home of the Washington Commanders and many D.C. residents hoping it's designated for new housing and retail. Complicating matters further, the building is owned by the city government while the land is owned by the National Park Service.
The D.C. Council seemed to signal the death of all future stadium talks in June, signing a letter to Eleanor Holmes Norton — D.C.'s sole delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives — informing her that they have the majority consensus to kill all future discussions.
