Suspicious Fire at the Pit is Second Playground Fire in Clark This Year

A suspicious July 4 fire at Veteran's Memorial Park, better known to residents as "The Pit," destroyed a slide and is the second playground fire in Clark this year.

Around 3 p.m. on Monday, the Clark Volunteer Fire Department responded to the Lupine Way park and found a slide fully ablaze.

"When we pulled up the fire was already fully involved with heavy black smoke," Clark Fire Chief Andy Beach told Patch. "The base flooring they use underneath [the slide] is a rubber synthetic that's made of petroleum products and burns real hot."

The fire department worked to put out the fire, but the slide was destroyed quickly. The park was closed off with caution tape after the fire.

Beach believes this is only the third incident like this in the past 10 years, but noted it is the second playground fire this year;

Beach does not know if the incidents are related or are necessarily arson, but says the Union County Arson Department is investigating. He says these incidents are not common in Clark, though other towns like Linden have dealt with repeated, similar playground fires.