By Melanie Williamson
Residents who ventured down to Main Street Beach over Fish Festival weekend may have noticed the northeast corner of the boardwalk was scorched and marked off with caution tape. This was the result of an evening fire that took place on Saturday, June 9.
The fire appeared to have started in a trash can that was situated directly in front of the boardwalk destroying the garbage can and badly scorching the boardwalk.
According to the police report, when officers arrived on the scene there were three teenagers, Tyler Hunnel, Caleb Mccullough, and Zachary Kelley, trying to put the fire out by kicking sand onto it and filling a garbage can with water from the lake. The teens reported they were walking north on Main towards to the beach when they saw the flames.
Officer Ronald Linkous stated that “if it wasn’t for the juveniles being in the area the fire would have spread more than it did.” Volunteers at Shore Thing shared a similar sentiment when talking about the fire stating that with the boardwalk and the Shore Thing shed being completely wood and so close together, they could have lost everything.
Dana Corrigan, Parks supervisor shared that it is nearly impossible to know if the fire was set intentionally or accidentally by something like a cigarette being thrown in the trash can. She did state that the boardwalk is safe, but that all the wood affected by the fire will need to be replaced.
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