NFL reveals what caused shocking emergency evacuation of Scott Hanson and RedZone crew
Scott Hanson really has seen it all.
On Sunday, during NFL Week 12 action, the NFL RedZone host was forced to leave the live broadcast after a fire alarm went off in the studio.
It took several hours to get to the bottom of what happened but eventually that the NFL RedZone offices were forced to evacuate due to a false alarm.
“Thankfully there was no fire,” the NFL spokesperson said. “No business functions, including NFL RedZone, were interrupted.”
“I tried to continue without calling attention to it, hoping it was a false alarm that would be quickly shut off,” Hanson told
“When it kept going, I figured the audience was hearing it so I referenced that it was going off and apologized if it was a distraction. My producer got initial word that it might be legit. So I told the audience we were being told to evacuate.”
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The alarm could be heard with around 10 minutes left during the broadcast of the Buffalo Bills-Philadelphia Eagles game. 52-year-old Hanson informed viewers they could continue to watch the Bills-Eagles game until he and his crew were able to return safely.
"Ladies and gentleman, this is a first in my 20-something-year of my broadcasting career," Hanson told the channel's audience on the live broadcast. "We have an alarm going off in the studios of NFLRedZone right now, in our studios here in Inglewood, California.
NFL Network has its studios located near SoFi Stadium, where the Baltimore Ravens played the Los Angeles Chargers later that day. On NFL Sundays, about 300 people usually work at the NFL Network.
"We are being told we need to evacuate the building", Hanson went on.
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"We do not know the nature of the emergency. You can probably hear the alarm going right over the top of my right shoulder, here, as it is something absolutely unprecedented for us.
"We have this game on, the closest game, the Philadelphia-Buffalo game. Our control room needs to evacuate at this time. The studio, in which I'm standing needs to evacuate at this time."
Fans tuning into the show were understandably concerned for Hanson and his production crew.
Thankfully, though, Hanson and the NFL RedZone crew were able to return to the studio a short time later.
“As we come back into the studio right now, I am reminded of an old Chinese proverb, which says: ‘May you live to see interesting times,’” Hanson said when he came back on the air.
"Well, that was…. interesting," he later wrote on X. "Alarm has stopped. Apparently all clear. Still waiting on details. Thanks for watching NFL RedZone week 12 ! One to remember."