- The start of the UK Athletics Indoor Championships was delayed by 90 minutes
- Emergency services were called to Birmingham’s Utilita Arena because of a fire
Birmingham’s Utilita Arena had to be evacuated on Saturday morning as the start of the UK Athletics Indoor Championships was delayed by a fire.
Emergency services swiftly responded after reports emerged of a blaze at the venue, sparking concerns among athletes, officials and fans.
Preliminary investigations suggested that the incident may have been triggered by a cooker catching fire in a nearby flat.
As a consequence, the two-day event’s kick-off was pushed back by an hour, with competition eventually starting at 12.55pm, around 90 minutes behind schedule.
An initial statement by British Athletics read: ‘The start of the 2025 Microplus UK Athletics Indoor Championships has been delayed by one hour, following an incident that required the evacuation of the Utilita Arena in Birmingham this morning, Saturday 22 February.
‘A one hour delay to the timetable has been agreed in order to athletes, officials and spectators adequate time to prepare for the day’s events. Saturday’s timetable of events is now expected start at 12:25.
The fire brigade were called out to the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Saturday morning
The start of the 2025 UK Athletics Indoor Championships had to be delayed by 90 minutes
‘Spectators will experience a delay to the opening of the arena, and should keep across UK Athletics channels for further information. There is currently no expected delay to Sunday’s timetable. Further information will be released on UK Athletics channels in due course.’
A second statement later added: ‘Whilst re-entry to the venue has commenced, it has been agreed to delay the start of the competition until 12.55 with a 1.5 hour delay to the published timetable.’
Former Olympic sprinter Katharine Merry was heading towards the venue when the evacuation began.
Merry, who won Great Britain a bronze medal in the women’s 400m at the 2000 Games in Sydney, tweeted on X: ‘Not made it into the Utilita Arena yet. It’s been fully evacuated due to a fire. Fire brigade here and smoke coming from the top floor.’
