ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — 24 hours after a Rockford Public School playground went up in flames, the fire department is still trying to figure out what happened.
The flames reached 40 feet into the air at West View Elementary School on Halsted Road.
The playground is brand new. It was just finished last month.
Fire officials believe petroleum in the plastic likely caused the fire to spread so quickly.
The department says this case is especially concerning since this is a place where children regularly play.
“There are at any given time several younger people there and they’re what we consider in a high-risk category, so we take this very seriously and we’re hoping that again this will come to a resolution much sooner rather than later,” said Michael Schnaper, arson investigator at the Rockford Fire Department.
