Cleveland’s chief building official assures Browns fans that they have no need to worry about FirstEnergy Stadium being a fire hazard. The Associated Press reported that the stadium uses some of the same types of panels being investigated as a possible contributor to the deadly apartment fire in London last month.
“There is zero risk to the fans,” Thomas Vanover said at a news conference at the stadium, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “There is no risk of a tragedy like what occurred at Grenfell [in London].”
The panels used on the London building, where 80 people died in the June 14 fire, cover some 100,000 square feet of the exterior of Cleveland’s stadium. The panels are Reynobond composite material manufactured by Arconic Inc.
The panels were backed with synthetic material that helped to insulate the apartment tower. The stadium has the panels mounted on non-combustible concrete as a trim covering the structure.
“The panels are not what caused the tragedy,” Vanover said. “The panels were part of a system that caused a tragedy.”