Parents Dump Gas On Wet Baseball Field to Try and 'Dry' it Out

Baseball field on fire

Opening day will have to be delayed for one ballpark in Connecticut after a group of parents thought it would be a good idea to douse a wet baseball field with 24 gallons of gasoline and set it on fire to 'dry' out the field in time for a high school game.

Ridgefield High School was scheduled to play a rival school at Governor Park in Ridgefield, Connecticut on Saturday, but the grass at the field was too wet for the teams to play on.

At some point, the decision was made to douse the field with gas and light it on fire in an attempt to get the game going anyway. Between 15 and 20 parents took turns dumping out the gas on the field while another 100 watched the chaos go down. The resulting fire caused 15-foot-high flames to leap into the air and caused an estimated $50,000 worth of damage to the field.

In a post to Facebook, Ridgefield town officials wrote that authorities were notified about the "poor decision" and Connecticut's Certified Spill Response Team was called out to the scene. No one was injured in the incident.

The game between the rival high schools was postponed.

"The plan is to excavate the infield, place dirt in a safe container, and add fresh, clean soil to the field. We will update you as we know more," town officials wrote.

The cost to replace the contaminated soil with fresh soil is estimated to cost the town at least $50,000. The field is expected to remain closed for several weeks. Police say they're actively investigating the incident.


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