FOLLOWUP: Riverview Playfield fire was ‘set’

| West Seattle fires | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(WSB photo, taken before fire debris were cleaned up Saturday)

Saturday’s 2 am fire in a restroom/storage building at Riverview Playfield was “a set fire,” SFD Lt. Sue Stangl confirmed to WSB today. She said the damage estimate is $70,000. What that breaks down to, and how the building will be repaired, has yet to be determined, according to Seattle Parks. Spokesperson Christina Hirsch told us today that “SPR staff have visited the site to take an initial look at the damage. Staff are planning on conducting a formal assessment this week. After that assessment is complete, we will have a better idea of damage estimates and repair plans.” The comfort-station building is only three years old. Meantime, with the park so busy this time of year, portable restrooms already have been brought in, Hirsch said.

Alan June 20, 2016 (11:48 pm)

Thank you for staying with this story. I hope they catch whoever did this.

Kay K June 21, 2016 (9:28 pm)

A suggestion to Parks- when the stalls are replaced, use stainless steel instead of the plastic composite material, then the only thing that would ignite in there would be the TP. Also lock up the doors (and gates) at dusk when the park closes.

Alan June 21, 2016 (11:41 pm)

Interesting idea, Kay, though I had thought the walls in the restroom were metal. I had assumed that someone had used gasoline both in this fire and the one in the portapotties last month. In doing a little searching around, I found that there are plastic composites that are resistant to burning and recommended for use in the construction of restroom dividers, which would suggest there are still flammable ones in use.

I also found a story about a rash of portapotties being torched by someone lighting the toilet paper on fire, which then ignites the plastic. Maybe that happened in both cases though the results of this last fire sure look like fuel was involved. If it really was plastic in the restroom, clearly that shouldn’t be used anywhere!
Alan June 22, 2016 (12:15 pm)

I just went for a walk and peeked in the restrooms. You are correct that they use plastic, but they must have used the fire resistant kind. The stalls are melted and scorched but are still there for the most part. I have to think that they could not have been the primary source of fuel. It appears that the fire was started on the West side of the women’s’ room, as that stall appears to be the worst. There are walls that were scorched but don’t show signs of having been burning, as I expect they would if a TP fire were enough to ignite them.

But, I am not an arson investigator. I only play one on WSB.

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