Frederick County playground burns down, deputies investigating arson

FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. ( DC News Now ) — People in a Frederick County neighborhood were surprised and shaken up after seeing that the Green Hill Park Playground had burned down in a fire that broke out Saturday morning.

Frederick County deputies say they believe someone intentionally set the fire at around 4:30 in the morning and the damage turned out to be extremely extensive.

“Originally, it was estimated to be about $20,000 damage, but once we contacted Park and Recs it’s substantially more,” Frederick County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) Communication Manager Tim Clarke said. “The cost to replace the entire playground would be more like in the $230,000 range.”

Caitlyn Lapkowski has lived in the Adamstown area her whole life. She said seeing the playground destroyed was a sad moment.

“I know kids are always out here playing they just redid it too so it’s brand new, everyone just paid for it,” Lapkowski said. “I went to elementary school right across the street, so it’s kind of a little scary too.”

Rachel Catania also grew up in the area and says this kind of incident is something that is very out of the ordinary for the area but hopes there is a plan to rebuild it.

“This was brand new, it was just rebuilt,” Catania said. “So I think the community was looking forward to having a new park so I do hope it gets rebuilt.”

“This is out of the normal,” Clarke said. “We don’t see this often and it’s unfortunate so we’re actively trying to figure out who did it and hopefully holding them accountable.”

Frederick County Sheriff’s Office says their investigation to find out who is responsible for this incident is still ongoing

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