It wasn’t just the New England Patriots who got torched Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
A fire apparently started by a tailgater’s unattended grill destroyed several cars while fans were inside the stadium watching the hometown Dolphins burn the Patriots by a 20-7 score. Photos online showed at least eight cars reduced to charred shells.
“Around 1 pm, a vehicle fire began in a remote Hard Rock Stadium parking lot,” a stadium spokesperson said in a statement. Several vehicles were affected.
“Miami Dade Police Department and Miami Dade Fire Rescue were on the scene,” it continued. “The fire has been extinguished and is being investigated by Fire Rescue. No injuries have been reported and there is no current threat to the stadium.”
Dolphins Tailgater Accidentally Leaves Grill On During Game, Fire Completely Destroys 8 Cars (VIDEO) https://t.co/Xq02NsDGqT
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) September 11, 2022
During the game, fans and reporters tweeted about seeing smoke billowing nearby.
“Something is smoking over behind the NorthWest [sic] corner of Hard Rock Stadium … not sure if it’s a fire but it’s gotten thicker over the past five minutes,” tweeted ESPN’s NFL Nation reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said that the cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known. But subsequent reports claimed that a tailgater who was grilling a pre-game feast forgot to shut down the asphalt kitchen before going inside.
Scott Dellorfano told NBC Miami his luxury Mercedes S63 was completely destroyed, and claimed he also had $3,000 cash inside.
“They said a grill caught on fire, it set off another car that blew up and it took our 5 or 6 cars,” Dellorfano said. “That’s what the police told me. I got insurance, you call stadium legal people, and then go from there.”
While a handful of Dolphins fans likely Ubered home unhappy, most were thrilled after the game. It was the debut of new Coach Mike McDaniel, and the defense throttled a New England team that has spent the last two decades owning the Dolphins and most of the rest of the NFL.
New acquisition Tyreek Hill, who previously starred for the Kansas City Chiefs, was his usual electric self, leading the team with 94 receiving yards. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t particularly impressive, but did enough to win.