Over the weekend a fire broke out at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, N.C., canceling games and causing a group of scouts camped out on the field to flee.
According to WSOC, first responders arrived to the stadium, the home of the Single-A Hickory Crawdads, just after 5:30 in the morning on Saturday. Despite extinguishing the fire within 30 minutes, the clubhouse sustained “heavy” damage.
The smoke was pouring out of the visiting team clubhouse and was determined to be caused by an electrical spark. Saturday’s fire did not cause any injuries to the visiting scouts or stadium officials.
Games previously scheduled for Saturday and Sunday were canceled, but the team anticipates that this week’s games will continue as scheduled.
As the stadium officials begin the repair process, they reported that the fire damaged furniture, baseball equipment, and caused the carpet and ceiling to be ripped out of the visiting team clubhouse.
“There’s major league standards and minor league standards. There are standards that have to be met, and we have to provide and have a solution to provide for that,” general manager Douglas Locascio told WSOC, noting that without a safe and comfortable visiting team clubhouse, the stadium does not currently meet league standards.
The Hickory Crawdads are an affiliate team of the Texas Rangers’ organization. Founded in 1993, the team has played in L.P. Frans Stadium for its entire 33 year history. The stadium seats 4,000 fans and its most recent renovation was completed in 2017, which added a video board, replaced outfield walls, and renovated the dugouts.
