San Francisco fire investigators have not able to determine the cause of a small blaze that damaged a broadcast booth and bleachers at the America’s Cup Village in the city’s Marina District early Tuesday, a fire spokeswoman said today.
The fire was reported at about 3 a.m. Tuesday at the America’s Cup site near Marina Boulevard and Fillmore Street, according to fire officials.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze by 3:11 a.m., but not until it caused about $15,000 in damage to the booth and some bleacher seating in front of it, fire department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.
Talmadge said the cause of the fire is undetermined because while there was a lot of electrical equipment in the broadcast booth that may have sparked the flames, arson could not be ruled out because a witness also reported seeing someone in the area at the time of the fire.
The fire did not affect racing in the America’s Cup Finals, which continued later Tuesday with Emirates Team New Zealand defeating defending champion Oracle Team USA.
Oracle then used its “postponement card” to delay the second race of the day. The New Zealand team has to win five more races to clinch the America’s Cup, while the U.S. team must win 10 more.
Racing will resume on Thursday afternoon.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
