GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – As the NFL Draft stage pops up and into the Titletown skyline next to Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Metro Fire Department has staff hard at work on the ground as they supervise the construction crews.
“We’re just primarily looking at how it’s all put together, so that in the event something were to go bad, we have the knowledge of the construction and how we would pursue it from doing rescues if we need to get those done,” Battalion Chief Chad Bronkhorst said. “Just because it’s a temporary structure doesn’t mean it doesn’t follow building codes.”
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Bronkhorst is the safety command officer for structures at the NFL Draft, and he or his colleagues are always on the draft campus when the construction workers are, with a minimum of three firefighters overseeing the work at a time.
“Completely different than anything we’ve ever seen,” Bronkhorst said. “I mean we’re talking about 1.2 acres under one roof that’s a temporary structure. So it’s a massive structure.”
The department was able to begin planning four months ago, according to Bronkhorst, when the design of the 90-foot-tall stage was complete. His department is tasked with keeping about 200 workers safe during the build, and 250,000 fans during the event itself.
“The thing that we probably worry about the most is if they start to run behind schedule,” Bronkhorst said. “Then people get in a rush, that’s where injuries can take place, that’s where shortcuts get made and mistakes happen.”
Another top safety concern is the weather, particularly the wind.
“We’ve had issues over the last couple of days with the wind, just because those are high structures, they’re temporary, they look like a big sail,” Assistant Chief Ryan Gibbons said.
But so far, fire officials say there have been no safety violations and construction crews have complied with all protocols. NFL leadership says the build has been on schedule, and there have not been significant weather impacts.
“We’re definitely on schedule,” NFL senior director of events Nicki Ewell said. “There haven’t been major weather concerns, but we always pad the build schedule for contingency related to weather. But we’re definitely on schedule, you’ll see some of the elements in the parking lot starting to go up.”
In the event that there is an onsite injury, from minor to serious, the fire department has its own office to treat construction workers on site.
“There’s a medical room, an EMS room that’s set up for our people to work out of, but it’s a place where the workers can go if they get injured,” Gibbons said.
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There might be a lot of firsts for first responders amid the NFL Draft preparation, but they are used to large events, especially Packers gamedays in Titletown.
“This is going to be the biggest event that we’re ever a part of in our careers in Green Bay,” Gibbons said. “It’s going to be bigger than a normal gameday, which is something that we haven’t seen, but it’s not something we can’t adapt to.”
