Toronto FC fans lit a giant dang fire in the stands and got kicked out

The rise of soccer has been undeniable in North America. It’s even getting to the point where hooligans in Canada are lighting fires and tossing flares onto the pitch at a minor league playoff match.

Toronto FC fans were ejected from Ottawa’s TD Place Stadium Wednesday after setting off a small explosion and sparking a fire in the stands, briefly interrupting the first leg of a Canadian Championship semi-final. The blast came early in the second half of Toronto’s 1-0 win over the Ottawa Fury. While it didn’t stop the action on the field, it did lead to a chorus of boos from a venue dotted with Fury supporters.

Here’s how it looked from the opposite side of the field, culminating with one of the most Canadian-sounding “oh my God” exclamations you’ll ever hear:

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. The fire was quickly extinguished and the offending fans were removed from the stadium. While no arrests were made at the time, but Ottawa police are currently investigating the matter, according to a statement from the Fury.

There was an incident at TD Place this evening during the Canadian Championship semi-final match between Ottawa Fury FC and Toronto FC of the MLS. Members of the TFC supporters group smuggled a small quantity of fireworks into the stadium and ignited them during the second half of the match. The fireworks flared and boomed for a short time and were quickly extinguished by TD Place security. no fans were injured in the incident and the perpetrators were ejected from the building.

All members of the visiting supporters group had been subjected to bag checks and security scans prior to entering the stadium and no fireworks or other devices were detected. TFC has apologized for the behavior of the members of the supporters group responsible for igniting the fireworks. Ottawa Police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Public safety is of paramount importance and TD Place will review this incident and security policies to determine how they might be modified to prevent such incidents in the future.

It’s unclear how much damage was done, though several of the Toronto FC supporters’ banners appeared to have ignited in the incident.

The two sides will meet again in an MLS-USL showdown for Canadian supremacy back in Toronto on July 25. There’s no word yet on whether Fury fans will bring some fireworks of their own to BMO Field, or whether they’ll just unfurl a polite banner extolling the virtues of fire safety instead.