Elementary School Playground Destroyed by Fire

Fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire Tuesday night at the playground at Arcadia Park Elementary School in Dallas.

Dallas Fire-Rescue says the 911 call came in just before 8 p.m. reporting a grassfire in the 1300 block of North Justin Avenue.

When firefighters arrives they found the playground equipment engulfed in flames. The playground was destroyed.

The Dallas Independent School District says $50,000 work of fairly new playground equipment was destroyed.

The playground will have to be replaced, it was not covered by insurance.

"If somebody wants to help raise the money to fund a new playground, our students and staff would be very appreciative," said DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander.

Anyone interested in rebuilding the playground should call the school.

"50 grand - we can say it very fast, but to raise all that money, it is not easy," said parent Juan Benavides.

Dahlander said the charred equipment will be removed Thursday.

Parents who live nearby say they saw and smelled smoke last night but didn't know about the damage until daylight.

"It's really wrong on their part. They should have thought about the kids instead of acting bad and destroying something, the kids are the ones that get affected by it," said parent Jorge Castillo.

No one was injured in the fire and fire investigators are still looking for the cause.

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