A 17-year-old boy is charged with setting fire to playground equipment at a South Dallas non-profit, firefighters say.[[426709701,R]]
Dallas Fire-Rescue crews responded to reports of a grass fire at 1121 West Wheatland Road in South Dallas Saturday afternoon. Firefighters arrived to find a playground fully-engulfed in flames, said Jason Evans, Dallas fire spokesman.
Crews safely extinguished the fire. No one was hurt.
Evans said a foam cup was set on fire and placed on the playground equipment, where it spread and destroyed the entire structure.
Investigators used surveillance footage to identify two boys, ages 11 and 17, seen in the are prior to the fire. Both boys were questioned, but the 17-year-old, who was not identified, was arrested on a charge of criminal mischief, a felony, said Evans.
The playground equipment belonged to Youth World Dallas Learning Center, a non-profit youth organization that reaches out to "at-risk" children in high-crime neighborhoods, according to the organization's Facebook page.
The damage totaled approximately $27,000, Evans said.
