Fire damages playground in Summerside, cause not yet known

Playground fire under investigation A fire at a Summerside playground is under investigation, having caused serious damage. Marek Tkach has more.

A fire that badly damaged a playground in Summerside is under investigation.

A portion of the playground at Father Michael Mireau School has been closed off after a fire Saturday.

Layla Silakiewicz lives nearby, and she was at the playground with her friends. When she saw the flames, she called 911.

"And as I was on the phone with them, it spread throughout, all the way to the slide and it just got huge,” Silakiewicz said.

“Smoke just went all over the sky, all over the houses and a bunch of people came running over," she added. "There was probably like 25, 50 people here.”

Katie Berghofer, Silakiewicz's mother, said she's impressed by her daughter's quick thinking in reporting the fire.

"I'm very proud of the fact she knew to take the action," Berghofer. "You see in the news that people take video but don't take action."

Joshua Fierbach and his friends were part of a crowd that ran over to see the fire.

“My brother thought it was a campfire because it was very smoky over here, so our first reaction was to look around and see if [a rea] big fire was around," Fierbach said. "Then we saw the steps right there were on fire.”

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said the fire was called in at 6:15 p.m. and a single unit was able to extinguish the fire in around 15 minutes.

No one was injured in the fire, but some equipment was melted or scorched. Temporary fencing was put up around the damaged portion of the park.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

“There is an active investigation with fire services, and parks and roads services are inspecting the playground and equipment, making sure the area is safe and will work towards replacing or repairing the equipment,” said Ward Karhiio Coun. Keren Tang on Sunday.