A fire started by a welder's torch on the grandstand roof above third base at Fenway Park was quickly extinguished yesterday morning.
(bill brett for the boston globe)
The combustible fumes of a pitch from fireballing closer Jonathan Papelbon, perhaps? Base paths scorched by speed burner Jacoby Ellsbury? Smoldering embers from the Red Sox's October blaze to glory?
Plenty of wordplay for the cynical and conspiracy-minded, too. Maybe it was a fed-up fan incensed over ticket price hikes (Ha!), or a fiery protest to pressure the team into resigning third baseman Mike Lowell (Sigh).
Thankfully, yesterday's small, quickly contained construction fire at Fenway Park was harmless. It also proved to be a quipster's delight as it drew all kinds of media to the park's storied confines. Even in the off-season, it seems, the Sox are red hot (Groan).
The fire broke out about 9 a.m. when sparks from a welder's torch ignited a pile of construction debris on the grandstand roof above the third base line. A firefighter working a paid detail saw the rubble begin to burn and notified authorities, who quickly extinguished the fire.
"Everything that was damaged was going to be thrown away anyway," said Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.
That was not the case in 1926, when a fire May 8 destroyed bleachers along the left field line. The team, less flush than today's titans, did not have the money to rebuild. Eight years later, a second fire swept through the park in January, halting a major renovation project. The park was rebuilt in time for the start of the 1934 season.
The current renovations should also be completed in time for Opening Day. Unless perhaps, the ghost of the great Smokey Joe Wood revisits his old haunt.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
