HERSHEY, Pa. (WHTM) -
After firefighters fought a blaze on the roof for over an hour, a fire at the Hersheypark Arena is officially extinguished. The fire chief said three firefighters were treated for heat-related injuries, two of them were taken to the hospital.
Hersheypark officials say the blaze was officially out as of 3:15 p.m. and any smoke still coming out of the building is a result of ventilation.
When the fire broke out in the 76-year-old building officials say 30 to 40 employees were safely evacuated. Fire crews rotate during the battle because of the heat. One other park employee was treated for heat-related injuries.
Official say that, despite reports, there is no structural instability that they know of. They do not know the extent of the damage but say it should be minimal. Official say it took so long to fight because the fire was about 100 feet off the floor.
Officials said a cause of the fire has not been identified though there is speculation that it could be linked to roofing work that was taking place in that area. However, they said no one had been in that section for a couple of days.
Operations at the Hersheypark Arena should be back to normal in a couple days. A Hersheypark hotline staff member said 15 rides have been shut down as a result of the fire.
On their website Hersheypark walks through some of the biggest events that have taken place at the arena.
•December 19, 1936: The sports arena opens. Constructed by D. Paul Witmer and is connected to the western end of the old Convention Hall.
•December 13, 1937: M.S. Hershey's 80th birthday party is held in the Hershey Sports Arena. His employees present him with a yellow-gold octagon ring, with 18 blue-white diamonds set in platinum, enclosing the "baby in a cocoa shell" trademark of Hershey Chocolate Corporation.
•November 5, 1938: Hershey Bears play their first professional hockey game at the Sports Arena. The team originated in 1935 as the Hershey B'ars.
•February 10, 1941: The Ice Capades perform in the Sports Arena for the first time.
•October 13, 1953: A birthday party is held for President Dwight Eisenhower; the National Republican Party sponsored the party.
•March 2, 1962: Wilt Chamberlain scores a record 100 points against the New York Knicks in a game played in Hersheypark Arena.
•March 28, 1979: Hersheypark Arena serves as an evacuation center by about 150 people during the Three Mile Island nuclear emergency.
•April 11, 1987: Hersheypark Arena celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special show featuring George Burns, Patti Page and Mark Hart.
•May 1988: Hershey Bears set a professional Hockey record as the only team to go 12-0 in the playoffs and win the Calder Cup.
•October 1989: Hersheypark Arena celebrated 50 years of Ice Capades at The Hotel Hershey, the birthplace of the Ice Capades on February 14, 1940.
•September 13, 1995: First day of Issue ceremony at Hersheypark Arena to officially unveil the First Class United States Postage Stamp honoring Milton S. Hershey as a philanthropist.
•June 13, 1997: Hershey Bears win their 8th Calder Cup title and Mike McHugh is named the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
•1998: Hersheypark Arena was ranked #7 facility with seats (5,001-10,000) ranked by Gross as compiled by Amusement Boxscores. That year, Hersheypark Arena also broke 9 facility records.
You can see a live view of the Hersheypark Arena from our WeatherBug camera.
