What’s being done to combat recent fires at Modesto’s parks and recreation facilities?
The early morning fire July 21 that gutted the American Legion Memorial Hall in Modesto’s airport neighborhood is one of several in recent years that have damaged parks and recreation facilities.
While residents focus on vandalism in parks, which can result in the city locking bathrooms that have been repeatedly damaged, the city’s recreation facilities also sustain damage from fires.
Modesto officials can recall more than a half-dozen fires over about the last couple of years. But they also are hopeful that the city’s strategy of promoting positive uses in its parks eventually will drive out the negative uses.
The blazes include the Downey Community Park restroom fire in July 2019, the August 2020 fire that caused extensive damage at the Dryden Park Golf Course clubhouse, the July 2021 fire at the outbuilding at the McClure Mansion, and the 2019 fire at American Legion Memorial Hall annex, which was known as the Little Legion Hall. The annex was beyond repair and was demolished.
There also was an arson fire at the American Legion Memorial Hall in 2021.
And a couple of months ago, a homeless man set fire to clothing, trash and other debris on the concrete pad by the exit in the back of the King-Kennedy Memorial Center, scorching the exit’s awning.
Homeless people gather and sleep on the roughly 3-by-5-foot pad because its awning provides shade in the summer and protection from rain in the winter.
West Modesto Community Collaborative Executive Director Perfecto Munoz said staff members ask the homeless not to gather there because they block the exit, creating a safety hazard. The collaborative runs the King-Kennedy Memorial Center on behalf of the city.
“We were totally surprised someone would do that,” Munoz said about the King-Kennedy fire. “This is someone we had asked to move his stuff.” Munoz said another homeless person identified the man who set the fire, and police arrested the suspect.
There also have been numerous fires in Tuolumne River Regional Park. They include one July 2 when someone set fire to a Modesto Police Department surveillance vehicle and surrounding vegetation. Police arrested a 34-year-old Modesto man, who is not homeless, on suspicion of arson.
This list is in no way definitive of all of the fires at parks and recreation facilities, and not all the fires have been deliberate.
Homeless people have been arrested in some but not all of the fires. For instance, a homeless man was arrested in the 2021 arson fire at the American Legion Memorial Hall. But a 24-year-old Modesto man who is not homeless was arrested in a June vegetation fire at Dryden Park Golf Course.
In some fires, authorities have not identified suspects. For example: Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said there is no suspect and the cause is undetermined in the August 2020 fire at the Dryden clubhouse.
And the cause is undetermined for the fires at the Downey Park restroom and the American Legion Memorial Hall annex, according to the Modesto Fire Department.
The American Legion Memorial Hall is on South Santa Cruz Avenue near the Tuolumne River and in Tuolumne River Regional Park. The park of more than 500 acres runs for seven miles along the river from Mitchell to Carpenter roads.
The park is a partnership among Modesto, Ceres and Stanislaus County. Modesto manages the park, and that includes the memorial hall. The hall is rented out for weddings, birthday parties, business meetings and similar events.
The nearly 4 a.m. fire gutted the interior of the building and destroyed its rear deck, which overlooks the river. The building’s exterior walls are cinder blocks and withstood the flames.
Officials have said the fire remains under investigation but they are looking at a human cause based on where they believe it started. Investigators are looking at homeless people because of the large number of them who sleep and gather near the hall.
And while officials suspect a human cause, they have said they don’t know whether the fire was an accident, such as a cooking fire that got out control, or deliberate.
Modesto Fire Department Deputy Chief Darin Jesberg said the city’s strategy of promoting positive uses of its parks and recreation facilities to drive out negative uses takes sustained effort but works.
Jesberg said the Tuolumne River Regional Park’s gateway parcel — 87 acres of trails and open space near downtown — is a prime example. The city and volunteers have invested money and labor in improving the parcel in recent years.
Jesberg said despite a recent uptick in fires the overall trend has been a decline in homeless camping, dumping of trash and other negative uses and an increase in people mountain biking, hiking and other positive uses. He said people are using the parcel daily for recreation.
High school cross country teams train in the parcel, and in April, about 600 teenage mountain bikers from 15 Central California counties rode their bikes in the parcel in NorCal Interscholastic Cycling League races.
Jesberg is part of a city working group that includes parks and recreation and police officials who meet regularly to discuss how the city can drive out negative uses while promoting positive uses in its parks and recreation facilities.
Jesberg said he also is optimistic about the Police Department’s new park rangers program, in which eventually as many as four rangers will patrol the city’s problem parks.
This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 12:00 AM.
