Worth playground burned again

By William Jones

Playground equipment at a Worth park that replaced items torched by vandals one year ago was set ablaze once again Sunday afternoon, this time accidentally by a Worth resident who was playing with fire, police said.

David Mares, 18, was charged with criminal damage to property after he allegedly set fire to the playground equipment at Gale Moore Park, 109th Street and Nordica Avenue. Worth police Chief John Carpino said Mares was burning leaves around 4:30 p.m. Sunday when the flames ignited the equipment and destroyed a portion of it, rendering it unusable.

“It’s disappointing,” Worth Park District President Steve Werner said Monday.

The playground was set on fire by vandals Nov. 10 of last year. In that instance, it was doused with an accelerant and deliberately set ablaze, police said.

Werner said last year’s incident caused roughly $32,000 in damages, which was mostly covered by insurance. The new equipment was installed roughly six months ago, Werner said.

“Almost everything we replaced is going to have to be replaced again,” he said.

Werner said the park district’s insurance company is reviewing the damage.

This is part of the November 12, 2009 online edition of The Reporter.

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