Arson Reported at Downers Grove Park: Police Blotter

An incident of arson was reported at McCollum Park on July 3, Downers Grove police said.

Downers Grove police and fire departments were dispatched at about 5:40 a.m. to a report of smoke coming from a park concession stand on the 6800 block of Main Street, according to a police report.

An officer saw white smoke coming from the restrooms of the southern concession stand towards the middle of McCollum Park, near the baseball fields.

"We found that a fire had been set in the garbage can of the unlocked men's room," the police report for this incident said. "A portion of the wall on the ladies' side was smoldering and there was smoke coming from the eve at the top of the south facing gable."

The fire department forced entry into the locked women's bathroom and found another fire in a garbage can. Police checked other areas of the park for more attempted fires but found nothing. The Fire Department extinguished the fires.

The report did not indicate whether the stand was still operational and police could not reach the owner immediately after the incident. Another officer collected evidence at the scene and a detective was notified of the incident.

The concession structure involved in the fire is valued at $25,000, according to the report.

A woman who walks regularly on the outer loop of the park told police she smelled smoke but did not see the source. She was near the concession stand at about 5:20 a.m. when she cut across the park. About 15 to 20 minutes later, she saw smoke coming from the building and called 911, the report said.

The woman said she only saw the same regular walkers and runners around the park while she was there. The sun at this time of year is rising at about 5:25 a.m.

The park fires took place about 1.5 miles from the sites of some June fires that appeared to be set. Two were reported outside of O'Neill Middle School and another occurred on the 800 block of 61st Street, according to various police reports.

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Police Blotter information is provided by local law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.