Cal Pit Burned, Ruled Arson

Unread postby **rainbowgirl28** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:55 am

http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=18968

Fourth of July Fires Burn Berkeley, Pole Vault Pit

By JENNIFER JAMALL
Contributing Writer
Thursday, July 7, 2005
Click to Enlarge
STAFF/BLAIRE BAILY

The Cal track teamÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pole vault pit was destroyed in a fire that took 20 minutes to extinguish. Police are calling the fire an arson.

Following last weekÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s blazes in West Berkeley, several fires occurred on July 4 and into the morning of July 5, according to Berkeley Fire Department officials.
The Fire Department responded to a call at 11:10 p.m. regarding a one-alarm fire in Edwards Stadium that destroyed the Cal track teamÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pole vault pit. The blaze was extinguished within 20 minutes, said Berkeley Fire Captain Gil Dong.

UC police officers searched the area for suspects after asking dozens of onlookers who had climbed the fence to see the fire to leave, but did not find any suspicious people in the area. Police are calling the incident an arson, said UC Berkeley Fire Marshal Tony Yuen.

The flames leveled the pole vault structure, incinerating the foam pads and warping the track surface surrounding the pit.

Chris Huffins, head coach of CalÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s track team, was at the scene surveying the damage as firefighters extinguished the blaze and combed the track for fireworks or other possible causes.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m befuddled as to why someone would set fire to our pole vault pit,Ã¢â‚¬Â

OAKPV2004 · Unread postby **OAKPV2004** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 12:58 pm

wow. thats always a terrible thing to happen, I jumped on those mats earlier this year. Not a bad place to jump.

lonestar · Unread postby **lonestar** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:15 pm

"$35,000 fiberglass pit"

???

ladyvolspvcoach · Unread postby **ladyvolspvcoach** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:52 pm

I'm with you lonestar! Must not coach the vaulters!!

Unread postby **rainbowgirl28** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:07 pm

lonestar wrote:"$35,000 fiberglass pit"

???

He's a decathlete

bjvando · Unread postby **bjvando** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:42 pm

i may be wrong here, but I know that some of us had that crappy pit in high school, or maybe even in college. AND some of us thought about burning down our track shed to get all NEW equipment....

I'M DEFENITELY NOT POINTING FINGERS!!!

just throwing a little joke out there

Vaulterchick88 · Unread postby **Vaulterchick88** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:55 am

didn't ballard's pit get burn on the 4th a couple of years ago.

Unread postby **ashcraftpv** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:47 pm

bjvando wrote:i may be wrong here, but I know that some of us had that crappy pit in high school, or maybe even in college. AND some of us thought about burning down our track shed to get all NEW equipment....

We had a set of crappy outdoor pits my freshman year in college and had talked about putting a match to our pits to get new ones...... :devil:

Anybody know what kind of condition their mats were in?

blazerunner121 · Unread postby **blazerunner121** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:54 pm

thats bad. just the thought of a pit burning hurts my head.

LHSpolevault · Unread postby **LHSpolevault** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:03 am

that's effed up... why the hell would somebody torch expensive mats like that, maybe... cross-town/state rivals looking to thin out their competition? j/k.

that really tweaks my melon. :deadrose:

Unread postby **ashcraftpv** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 5:59 pm

sounds like drunk college kids to me....

CHC04Vault · Unread postby **CHC04Vault** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 6:01 pm

ashcraftpv wrote:sounds like drunk college kids to me....

what are u talking about...no college kid drinks...aight i can't even keep a straight face sayin that

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Cal Pit Burned, Ruled Arson

Cal Pit Burned, Ruled Arson

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