Fireworks-related fires damage Bellevue bathrooms, turn one playground to charred plastic
Bellevue Police are looking for those who caused thousands of dollars in damages at two schools and a park last week.
They believe fires caused by illegal fireworks may have been at the center of all four incidents, three they said were definitely firework related; whether by accident or intentional. Two of the fires targeted toilets.
People who live near the most recent, and biggest fire at Phantom Lake Elementary said people setting off fireworks on the school grounds is a constant around July 4. Bellevue Fire said on Tuesday they received security footage of the most recent fire and it shows the people they believe are responsible.
“The fireworks were set. They left and that’s when the start of the fire broke,” said Bellevue Fire Marshal, Travis Ripley.
He said three people are seen in that footage. That fire turned a five-year-old playground into a charred patch of turf and plastic.
Sandra Hoops lives near Phantom Lake Elementary.
“It seemed like everything settled down around 2 a.m. and then at 3:30 a.m. two firetrucks came,” said Hoops. “We could just barely see it over our shrubs. It was just a lot of smoke.”
Hoops has lived across from Phantom Lake Elementary for decades. She said since the Fourth of July, the elementary school grounds are more like a warzone.
“This has gone on for years and years. It’s a favorite place for doing donut circles with cars and setting off fireworks, they use both parking lots at the school. Summers are hard to get sleep and rest,” Hoops said.
The Phantom Lake playground is just the latest in a string of similar blazes over the last few days in Bellevue. The first fire happened on the same grounds on July 4. Ripley said someone used fireworks to flatten a port-o-potty. The next day, someone decimated a porcelain throne at Surrey Downs Park.
“There are obviously larger ones that are made for aerial use that can have that effect based on the small enclosed quarters,” said Fire Marshall Ripley.
On July 8th, the roof at Puesta Del Sol school caught fire. Investigators found emptied beer cans at the scene. Then, Phantom Lake went up in flames. As of now, Ripley said there’s nothing to connect the blazes and they don’t have any suspect information right now. He does share why people may be drawn to places, like Phantom Lake Elementary for this kind of activity.
“I think these areas are kind of an attractive area since schools have been out for summer break. Part of our problem is watching these large areas. Even in our patrols during the Fourth of July specifically, we get a lot of reports from those areas,” said Ripley.
Hoops said,” That is really going to be terrible because we have a lot of children in the neighborhood and they use that park every day.”
We currently have an open records request in for the newly obtained footage. Bellevue Public Schools said none of their employees or staff are in the buildings after business hours. If someone is spotted inside after hours, they are asked to report it to police.
Anyone with information on the school and park fires should call the Bellevue Police Department’s non-emergency number at 425-452-6917.
