Youth baseball field closed after an unusual drying technique was deployed
A Twitter user posted video of apparent field maintenance workers trying to dry a youth baseball field in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on Saturday, April 6, 2019. The fire resulted in the field being shut down and local officials said tens of thousands of dollars of damage was done. Authorities are investigating. (Twitter / AmityNorton)
Police in the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, are investigating a head-scratching incident that occurred on Saturday after a high school baseball game was delayed due to wet field conditions caused by weather.
According the city officials, a "poor decision was made to dry the field quicker." It's not clear who was behind the -- ahem -- half-baked idea, but those people poured 24 gallons of gasoline onto the ground and set it on fire. Video of a small inferno burning near the second base area of the infield surfaced on Twitter. As the fire burned, people can be seen raking away at the infield dirt.
No injuries were reported and nobody was in danger, city officials said, but the spectacle drew a response from The Ridgefield Fire Department, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the director of public works, and the Certified Spill Response Team.
A storm moved through the Northeast from Friday into Saturday and brought about a quarter to a half an inch of rain to the area. However, by later that Saturday, temperatures had settled into the 60s and there was plenty of sunshine.
"The plan is to excavate the infield, place dirt in a safe container, and add fresh, clean soil to the field," city officials said. The field is expected to be closed for a week as the soil is tested. According to NBC Connecticut, town officials said the cost of the damages could run as high a $50,000 -- if not more. “It’s looking like it will cost $50,000 and could even exceed that,” Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi told The Ridgefield Press on Sunday.
Oddly enough, this isn't the only reported instance of a baseball field being set on fire in the past month.
According to ABC4 in Salt Lake City, Steve Ross, the head baseball coach at Clearfield High School in Clearfield, Utah, was placed on administrative leave after he allegedly dumped gasoline and diesel fuel on the infield dirt to help remove wet spots before a game on March 23.
That day a parent reportedly complained about a strong smell of petroleum, according to ABC4. The Davis County Health Department is now helping the school district with the investigation.
"We're not concerned about the people who were there or anything like that," Davis County Environmental Health Director Rachelle Blackham told ABC4. "But we are concerned about the product in the soil, you know contaminating the soil and possibly penetrating farther down."
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