Fire Guts Youth Baseball Shed, Destroys Equipment

Fire officials are investigating a fire Monday that destroyed a small shed used to hold Nashua Cal Ripken youth baseball equipment.

Just before 12:30 p.m. fire crews arrived to the 6 x 8-foot equipment shed located at Lincoln Park, off Coliseum Avenue at the Mine Falls Park Foot Bridge to find the shed was fully engulfed in flames. Crews acted quickly, despite having to drag hose lines through a distance through the snow to reach the ball field shed, located in the middle of the park.

Deputy Fire Chief Michael O'Brien Sr. estimated the loss to include several thousand dollars, between the structure and equipment.

On Tuesday morning Nick Caggiano, superintendent of the city's Parks and Rec Department, was still waiting to hear from the city's fire marshal on what started the blaze.

"There's pretty much nothing left," said Caggiano. "It was the scorer's booth – there's not much to it, just a little wireless controller used to change the score. The equipment in storage included rakes, bases, a pitching machine – no uniforms, though."

Cal Ripken League president Frank McNally said he'd seen the damage on Monday. He also said the shed has been targeted by vandals in the past, due to its remote location.

"It's a hangout for a lot of good people, but also, unfortunately, for other people. It's not the first incident we've had down there," McNally said.

The most significant loss is the electric pitching machine, used for players across the entire league, which was reorganized last season to combine the separate leagues under one umbrella.

He said the city has talked about installing security cameras in the past at the field.

"City Parks and Rec have always been outstanding in helping us address damage in the past," McNally said. "We're a non-profit, so we'll have to do a significant amount of  fundraising to recover our losses."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Nashua Fire Marshal’s Office, and Nashua Police Department.