TAMPA, Fla — Charred playground equipment now sits in a pile at the Academy of Tampa Kids Corner on east Hillsborough Avenue after it went up in flames late Tuesday night.
"It breaks my heart for the kids," director Cedricka Henderson shared.
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Henderson said the kids were without a playground for nearly a month as it was getting remodeled.
"Some of the kids, this is the only outside time that they get when they are at the daycare. I don't know if you can imagine a classroom full of rowdy kids and sometimes they just want to come outside. So, this kind of just pushes us back because he was almost finished," Henderson explained.
Devastation is now what makes up this playground as crews work to pick up the pieces.
"Everything that got done had to be knocked down and done all over. So I'm not sure how long it's going to take and the kids were getting excited. I'm like we got maybe about two more weeks!" Henderson added.
Tampa Fire Rescue said only the playground caught fire and no one was injured.
Crews said they were able to put out the flames within minutes, but rebuilding the playground from square one again will take plenty of patience from families and their kiddos just wanting to play outside.
"We're working really hard, you know, to see what we can do to accommodate the kids so we can get it done fast," Henderson said.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
