Fundraising underway after fire at school playground; two youths charged with arson

Kids at Dr. L.M. Hanna Elementary School in Regina will have to have recess without a jungle gym for the time being after a late-night fire.

Regina Fire and Protective Services said it got a call Monday shortly after 9:30 p.m., about flames on the playground.

Firefighters arrived and got the fire under control quickly. It was the rubber mats underneath the structure — as opposed to the structure itself — that were on fire.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Regina Police Service announced two girls, ages 12 and 13, had been charged with arson in connection with the fire.

A fire line is wrapped around one of the play structures at Dr. L.M. Hanna Elementary School after a fire Monday night. Nov. 3, 2020 (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

Matt Jacobs, who has three children who attend the school, has started a GoFundMe page to raise money to repair the structure.

He said the playground was the result of eight years’ worth of fundraising by parents.

Once they had about $83,000 to buy materials, a group of them also assembled the structure.

“So this has been a huge community effort right from the get-go. (It’s) so very disheartening and heartbreaking to see that this took place,” Jacobs said.

Larissa Goulet’s daughter is in Grade 3 at the school in the Argyle Park neighbourhood. Goulet said waking up to news of the fire Tuesday morning was devastating.

“To put in all this work and to time-manage — to have our kids pushing their coupon books to the grandparents, and raffle tickets and trying to use their cute little ways to get all those set up — it was definitely a great loss to see,” said Goulet.

Goulet said the playground had been put in just last school year, but the kids were sent home early due to COVID-19. They weren’t able to play on the structure for most of the summer due to COVID restrictions, so this school year was going to be many kids’ first chance.

“It was a very exciting thing for the kids to come back to school with,” said Goulet.

There was a video of the fire, which Jacobs showed to his daughter, who also is in Grade 3.

“And her response to that was, ‘If only there were superheroes in Regina,’ ” he said.

“It was a little heartbreaking to hear and and it made me think … we can’t swoop in and wear a cape but we can be heroes as a community and come together and make this thing happen for our kids to get a playground back again.”

He’s hoping that it won’t take the better part of a decade to reach the $85,000 goal, that people besides parents will pitch in.

That’s because the playground wasn’t just used by the school.

“It was still a place that was used by the community as a whole, all year round,” Jacobs said. “It’s not just a school structure, it’s a community structure. So I think it would be an outlet for kids to be able to play, exercise (and) have fun.”

According to the police, investigators spoke with people who were at the scene Monday. On Tuesday, police had the name of a potential suspect and then identified a second suspect.

The girls, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were arrested and charged. They’re to make their first court appearances on Wednesday.