Fans react as Plymouth Argyle confirm 'strange' fire outside stadium just days after Exeter City issue | OneFootball

Fires have broken out at Home Park and St James Park over the past few days

There's been some small scares at Devon derby rivals, Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City, this week, after fires broke out at both Home Park and St James Park in the space of a few days.

An area used for waste storage caught fire at Exeter's home ground last Wednesday (12 November), whilst two portable toilets were set ablaze outside Home Park on Monday (17 November).

Luckily enough, no one was injured in either incident, but whilst Plymouth were happy to report that no damage was done to the interior of the ground, Exeter are having to scramble to fix the issue in the control room to allow their game on Saturday against Burton Albion to go ahead.

Whilst this is possibly a mere coincidence, it's allowed fans on X to comment on the issue after Plymouth announced that everything was under control.

Fans react to Plymouth Argyle fire

Plymouth haven't been able to laugh at much this season, with the Pilgrims currently sat bottom of League One in the midst of a six-game losing run in all competitions.

Therefore, once it was announced that everything was safe and there was no interior damage at Home Park, Plymouth fans took to the replies to comment on the incident.

Some felt that this incident was "the biggest excitement" at Argyle in the past few months, while others jokingly speculated if new Director of Football Derek Adams was taking extreme action on Tom Cleverley's tactics after his dire start to life in the Home Park dugout.

Others felt that these fires at two Devon-based football grounds were not a coincidence, some joking that local National League and National League South sides Truro City and Torquay United should be on high alert for something similar happening to them.

And then, obviously, there was some opportunity for fans of the two rivals to come and engage to try and get one up over each other online.

"Our fire was bigger," wrote one Exeter fan, with one Plymouth fan jokingly suggesting creating a donation page for the damage to the portable toilets, after it was reported that Grecian fans were trying to raise funds for the £100,000 of damages that the blaze had caused.

Relief is the main feeling among fans as fire's are dealt with

Ultimately, whilst jokes and pieces of satire are going to be shared online regardless of the severity of the issue, the main feeling across the fanbases of both Exeter and Plymouth here will be relief that no further damage has been caused.

Especially from an Exeter standpoint, who are a fan-funded club and are known to lack the finances that a lot of their fellow third tier sides have.

Exeter boss Gary Caldwell spoke of how worried he was when he saw the footage of the fire, as there were concerns that it could have spread into the Adam Stansfield Stand before it was controlled.

Coincidence or not, both sets of fans will overall be happy that nothing too permanent has happened.

On the field, they'll be hoping for a similar, metaphorical, fire to be lit, especially from Plymouth's point of view, as the two sides look to battle valiantly against the drop in League One