On August 30th, in the late morning, an ordinary Saturday at Prospect took an extraordinary turn when Prospect High School athletics director Scott McDermott noticed something strange. As he walked up the bleachers to the press box, he identified a distinct line of smoke, rising from Gattas Stadium’s maintenance yard.
Quickly, McDermott radioed Miguel Rodriguez, one of Prospect’s groundskeepers, to see what was going on. According to McDermott, Rodriguez acknowledged that there was a fire and was already trying to extinguish it. McDermott immediately took action.
“I got on the phone and called 911, and had them come to the scene.”
The Mount Prospect Fire Department’s “Tower 13” responded to the scene, which spouted water from atop the tower ladder of the truck.
Many Prospect sports teams had scheduled practices Saturday morning, and some teams, including the football team, were practicing at the stadium during the fire. Despite their close proximity, McDermott maintained that threat to players was nonexistent.
“Everything was contained. Safety… was our top priority,” said McDermott.
Community members have speculated that the fire could have been initiated by a student – McDermott finds this unlikely, although the school is still unsure of the fire’s cause.
“If I had to put my detective hat on, this was an innocent thing. It probably had more to do with Friday night cleanup,” said McDermott.
Instead, he points to improper disposal of charcoal from the concession stand grills as a likely culprit.
“There’s zero chance that it was an act of malicious intent, because we’ve got cameras everywhere. They would attract that,” said McDermott.
As of now, McDermott and the school do not have plans to investigate the fire and its cause further.
“[It’s] really… not my thing to dive into that and try to figure that out,” said McDermott.
Still, the school is addressing possible causes. McDermott reassured that proper charcoal removal has been addressed, and the gate to the maintenance area where the dumpster is remains locked whenever possible.
“I don’t remember seeing a literal [dumpster fire] before, but figurative ones happen all the time,” said McDermott.
(Photos by Xander Adkins)
