Houston youth athletic program gutted by 2-year arson spree
Young athletes are facing setbacks after arsonists torched three of their storage facilities. The fires happened over the span of two years at Smokey Jasper Park in northeast Houston.
"Everything positive we have is messed with. It doesn’t make sense," said Pastor Edward Buford.
A program offering athletics to underprivileged kids is facing major challenges after back-to-back fires damaged their facilities. Two years ago, FOX 26 reported that the non-profit lost $30,000 dollars worth of equipment.
"They came in and burned up all the equipment, and they knocked the building down," said Pastor Buford.
A year later, two more facilities were set on fire. The latest incident happened on Christmas Eve.
"Then we go and move stuff, and they burn it in there. They then burned all the concession stand stuff. We went to get a portable concession stand that can barely be afforded, they burn that up," said Buford.
The devastating fire crippled the youth sports program.
"This was a ranger shack that we converted to a storage area, because our other two storage areas were damaged badly by vandalism," said Fredrick Lastrape, who is a coach for PACE.
"If you walk down, they stole all the scoreboards from over there. There are bullet holes in all of the buildings," said Buford.
"They don’t treat parks in West University like this. They don’t treat parks in Rice Military like this," said Lastrape.
PACE stands for protecting all children equally. In communities where opportunities can be scarce, PACE provides low-income kids with the chance to play sports.
"From the streets to college, that’s where our kids are going," said Buford.
"I don’t know if the people who are doing it actually know how much they are affecting the community," said Coach Teddy Resby, the commissioner of PACE.
"How do you have this happen, and nobody take some serious actions against it? They’re burning the park down," said Buford.
The organizers say the arson and vandalism can be slowed with a simple solution.
"We’ve got a gate here. All they have to do is lock the gate," said Buford.
The Houston Fire Department says all three arson cases are under investigation, but they haven’t received any witness tips or leads.
In the meantime, PACE is accepting donations. To learn more, click here.