Fire disrupts Big Ten indoor track & field championship

Cell phones and their accessories can be remarkably dangerous due to their flammable nature in certain conditions. We got another reminder of that on Friday morning, after a fire was started on the infield of the Big Ten Track and Field Indoor Championships.

The fire was started by a portable charger inside a backpack on the infield. The fire was quickly extinguished by officials and nobody was hurt.

Here’s the picture of what happened below.

Update: portable charger. Photo by Ty Artist pic.twitter.com/R40RO2j9ul

— Anderson Bobo (@AndersonBobo_) February 28, 2025

A phone charger and/or battery pack fell out of a bag on the polyethene surface, which is technically described as the infield. Somebody stepped on a portable charger with their track shoes, which caused the charger to release a few pops before going into flames. Officials at the race were quick to put the fire out with an extinguisher, so thankfully, there were no problems.

Let’s take a look at what happened in the Big Ten Track and Field Indoor Championships on Friday, once the fire was finally put out.

Tacoria Humphrey from Illinois won the Big Ten Championship in the long jump for the women. Not only that, she shattered the Big Ten, school, and Big Ten Indoor Championships record with a massive long jump of 6.94 meters. (22-9 1/4). For the men, Johnny Brackins won the school’s first ever individual Big Ten crown. He won with a mark of 26-2.75.

Anthonett Nabwe of Minnesota became a back-to-back Big Ten Weight Throw Champion. For the men, Ryan Johnson of Iowa was the Men’s Weight throw Champion, posting a throw of 24.38 meters. Amanda Moll of Washington broke the NCAA Track and Field pole vault record on Friday. She broke her own college record, clearing 16-1.25 meters to win the Big Ten crown. It’s the fourth NCAA record she has shattered in her career thus far.

The Oregon Ducks swept the podium in the women’s 5k, with Silan Ayyildiz bringing home the gold, Juliet Cherubet bringing home the silver, and Anika Thompson bringing home the bronze.

In the cross country, the Washington men dominated, finishing with a time of 9:31:75. Pauline Bikembo won the championship in the pentathlon, scoring 4,330 total points to bring home the women’s crown.

There are still plenty of events that will take place on Saturday, March 1st. For a full list of the schedule of the events, check out this website.