Fresno State looking to upgrade press box windows after fans hurt by falling glass
Fresno State is obtaining quotes to replace all of the windows in the press box at Valley Children’s Stadium with safety tempered glass that will not shatter into large pieces after a number of fans were injured at its Homecoming game on Saturday by falling shards from a window broken by a Bulldogs assistant in the coach’s booth.
Two fans, a woman and her young daughter, were taken to a hospital after they were hit by falling glass. Others struck were treated at the venue.
They were fortunate to escape more serious injury. While glass went flying into the seats at Valley Children’s Stadium, several large, jagged pieces landed on a ledge or railing under the window.
One of those pieces of broken glass was in the shape of a knife with a long jagged edge, about 14 inches long. Others were considerably larger, and all of them had sharp edges that could have done serious damage below if falling from that height and striking a fan.
The incident occurred when a coach in the Bulldogs booth struck and broke the window after San Jose State scored a touchdown late in the second quarter.
The coach involved, who has not been identified by the university, was placed on an administrative leave.
The glass was compliant with building code at the time it was installed, university officials said.
“First and foremost, the health and well being of our patrons is of utmost importance,” athletics director Terry Tumey said. “There’s nothing more critical to us — that our fans have an amazing experience at Valley Children’s Stadium and of course the incident that occurred was truly unfortunate, and of course our university is doing everything it can to address that issue and make sure that those families that were affected are safe.
“That’s the most important thing to us. That’s the most important thing to our leadership, and as we move forward we’ll continue to try to safeguard from incidents like that occurring in the future.”
Coach Jeff Tedford said he had reached out to the fans involved.
“I got a chance to talk to one party, the other I have not,” he said. “But I’ve reached out to try to pass along our apologies and to let them know that we’re thinking about them.
“It’s a lesson for everybody, because it could have happened in the visitor’s box. It could have happened in any one of those boxes. But it’s unacceptable. You can’t do that. It’s a huge lesson to any coach in a press box or, I don’t care, any event. It’s not a good idea to do that, because you never know what could happen. It’s very unfortunate and we feel bad that they had to go through that experience.”