Day set aside to aid Huntington Little League after fire
Fire may have destroyed the Huntington Valley Little League’s score booth, bleachers and other equipment in Wardlow Park in November, but community spirit is already helping to ease the pain.
A field maintenance day is set for 1 p.m. Jan. 28 to restore the damaged parts in time for the spring season. Participants will put up new nets, replace and paint the backstop, do weeding in the outfield, put up fences and hang flags.
SoCal Honda Dealers will donate two new bleachers that will be installed during the maintenance day.
On Friday, the Honda group opened sign-ups for volunteers for the day through Facebook and Twitter pages.
Damage from the fire was estimated at $25,000.
Tim Stone, the league’s president, provided the Daily Pilot with security camera footage from a home near the park that appears to show a man setting fire to the scorekeeping booth at about 9:15 p.m. Nov. 13 at Wardlow Park, 19761 Magnolia St.
The video, which has been reviewed by Huntington Beach police, shows the man, who appears to be wearing a sweatshirt and shorts and carrying a backpack, kneeling and lighting a fire. Flames begin to spread up the front of the wooden booth as the man walks away.
Neighbors noticed the blaze around 10 p.m. and called firefighters. When Stone arrived shortly after, fire crews had just finished knocking down the flames, he said.
Stone’s three sons play in the league, which serves more than 750 youngsters in Huntington Beach.
“From a kid’s perspective, you have a lot of questions, like why would anyone want to hurt the league?” Stone said. “It’s almost like someone broke into their house and burglarized it … it was that kind of violation. My kids had nightmares.”
“But the outpouring of the community has been astounding,” Stone added. “Out of the fire rises the phoenix, so to speak.”
Opening day for the league’s spring season is Feb. 25.
Staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
