Police Investigating Ford City Pavilion Fire

by Jonathan Weaver

Ford City Police are investigating what caused a pavilion along the Armstrong Trail to go up in flames during the weekend.

About midnight Saturday, Ford City firefighters, medical personnel and police were dispatched to an area of the Armstrong Trail near the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 9th Street for a fire at one of the pavilions.

Nobody had to be treated by emergency medical responders.

Ford City Police Sergeant Mark Brice said emergency crews were alerted to the fire after a Parkview Apartments resident noticed the flames.

According to Sergeant Brice, the tenant saw a vehicle near the intersection watching the fire for about five minutes and thought Armstrong 9-1-1 had already been called. But, she was the first to contact emergency authorities.

No information about the vehicle is known.

Ford City Fire Chief Ron Wojcik said a picnic table and garbage can were under the 10-foot by 10-foot pavilion, commonly used by Bergad Specialty Foams and Customs or OEM Shades employees.

“It’s a total loss – it’s definitely suspicious,” Chief Wojcik said.

Chief Wojcik and other firefighters agreed that it was a shame the pavilion was destroyed.

Located across from Ford City Park, the pavilion was originally built by the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps in the early 2000’s, with students led by the late-former community leader Larry Gray.

Sergeant Brice estimated the pavilion could cost about $2,000 to rebuild.

Firefighters, who were on-scene for nearly an hour, brought barriers to secure the area before Saturday morning walkers took to the trail.

1 Comment

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  By Jane_PA, April 20, 2015 @ 11:00 AM

  Something should be done to catch the vandals that started this fire.

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