Lacasse Park fire causes over $400,000 in damages

By Kaitlynn Kenney

Police say a young person has been charged with arson for last week’s fire at Lacasse Park.

On Oct. 10 just before 6 p.m. the playground equipment at Lacasse Park in Tecumseh was set ablaze and the fire spread quickly to the entire playground.

Witnesses say families whisked their children away from the toxic smoke coming from the equipment.

Const. Stephanie Moniz said that a 13-year-old has been charged with arson. The fire caused significant damage to the equipment.

“He used gasoline to ignite the accessible playground,” said Moniz. “He has been arrested and charged.”

Fire Capt. Larry Morand said the flames were six to eight feet high.

“(The ground covering) is a hydrocarbon base so it produces very black smoke that could be seen from our fire station,” said Morand. “We had most of the fire extinguished in 12 minutes.”

Many residents said they could see the smoke from their homes on Lesperance Road and Riverside Drive. People attending the baseball game in the same park became very concerned, according to Rochelle Godard, who rushed over immediately.

“I didn’t realize it was the park until we got closer,” said Godard. “You could smell it right away. It smelled like plastic and rubber burning.”

Godard said many concerns came to her mind.

“One of the things I was really worried about was if there were any kids caught in the fire.”

No injuries were reported from the incident and the suspect will appear in court at a later date.