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Centre Court at Wimbledon evacuated after small fire | |
(about 14 hours later) | |
An evacuation of Centre Court at Wimbledon had to be carried out because of a small fire, organisers have said. | |
The fire, discovered in an electrical plant room shortly before 21:00 BST to the side of the Wingfield Restaurant, happened an hour after close of play. | |
Security staff urgently moved remaining spectators out of Centre Court and away from the grounds. | |
A Wimbledon spokesman said it was thought an electrical fault may have caused the fire. | |
London Fire Brigade said about 25% of the plant room was alight and Wimbledon security staff were allowed to leave at 22:30 BST when it became apparent the problem had been contained. | |
London Fire Brigade tweeted that 3,000 people had been evacuated from the stadium as a precaution. | |
The evacuation announcement briefly interrupted a Serena Williams press conference in the Millennium Building media centre, next to Centre Court. | |
A further announcement followed, requesting anyone on the tea lawn between gates four and five to evacuate. | A further announcement followed, requesting anyone on the tea lawn between gates four and five to evacuate. |
Minutes later, everyone within the All England Club grounds was ordered to leave. | Minutes later, everyone within the All England Club grounds was ordered to leave. |
There had been an earlier incident on Court One but it was a drill, tournament officials said. | |