A fourth playground fire in the month of May broke out in the Outer Richmond at 10:55 p.m. Wednesday night, burning down the playground structure at Lincoln Park. This comes on the heels of two recent fires at nearby Lafayette Elementary School that destroyed a PTA storage shed and the schoolyard play structure, and a May 10 fire, also at Lincoln Park.
The San Francisco Fire Department could not yet confirm arson or serial arson, but the arson task force, composed of investigators from the fire and police departments, is assigned to the case, according to Lt. Mariano Elías of the San Francisco Fire Department.
“It is concerning,” Elías said. “The chief has said that it is unacceptable. We are looking to apprehend someone.”
Lincoln Park’s playground, located at the southeastern edge of the park near Clement Street, has now been closed off by yellow tape. The playground at Lafayette Elementary School on 36th Avenue between Balboa and Anza streets has been fenced off. Parents and students wove a work of art into the fence to obscure the wreckage.
Hallie Albert, vice president of the PTA at Lafayette Elementary School and a mother of a fourth grader, said that while parents are still sending kids to school, they are “on edge and very concerned.”
“There have been expressions of concern like, ‘Is this an escalating situation? Is someone trying to send a message?’” Albert said.
Albert said her older child, who attends Presidio Middle School three blocks east of the Lincoln Park playground, has always seen the place as a source of “energetic release and enjoyment.” But now, their go-to hangout spot has been melted by a suspicious fire.
“They’re incredibly sad to have lost it and all the memories that they have on it,” Albert said.
Those interested in donating to rebuild Lafayette’s damaged play structure can do so here.
Bright side – most of the kids at Lafeyette play tag, “ball” of various sorts, all kinds of activities and comparably few on any given day actually used the play structure. I’m not finding a silver lining in arson, but the kids will be alright. What’s worrying is what comes next if they don’t catch the guy.
No one wants to play next to a smelly, toxic, burned mass of plastics.
Kids will be all right? have you talked to them?
This is definitely not all right. You realize that everyone knows this city has more rich dogs than public school kids?
Also, the fire got quite large before any action was taken…