Exeter City working to get ground ready after fire

The fire between the away end and the Adam Stansfield Stand at St James Park caused extensive damage to key matchday systems

Exeter City are working against time to ensure Saturday's League One game against Burton Albion can be played after a fire at their ground.

The control room and medical room at St James Park were badly damaged in a fire last week.

Cabling from the control room, which is essential to run a game safely, was destroyed and is being replaced on Tuesday.

The ground must be approved by the local council's Safety Advisory Group before the game can go ahead.

"If we can't provide cover from a control room - they control the stewards and the CCTV cameras and everything like that - then they will make the call that the ground isn't safe to operate," Exeter City's general manager Clive Harrison told BBC Radio Devon.

"In the fire, it was mostly the cabling that melted, the equipment is intact, it's just the cabling that runs around the stadium that's the issue.

"You can't just substitute something in there because there's fire alarms, the CCTV cables all run around the stadium, so it really needs to be that room, back up and operating."

The fire could not have come at a worse time financially for Exeter as the supporter-owned club had to cut their playing budget this season after overspending in the last campaign.

The club has raised about £40,000 from crowdfunding towards the £100,000 cost to repair the damage immediately as Exeter await assessment from their insurers.

"It's at times like this you realise what the community does," added Harrison.

"We're a community club and we try to, through our charity, give to the community and at times like this the community gives back to us and it's outstanding.

"When everybody pulls together in the way they do it turns into quite a positive experience.

"When you see people gathering around, offering their services, giving money towards these thing, you can't help but feel really proud about the club and how it fits in the community."