A large fire ripped through the South Shore Sports Center in Hingham, Massachusetts, overnight, leaving the facility severely damaged and likely beyond repair.
Hingham fire officials said that the South Shore Sports Center at 55 Recreation Park Drive will likely have to be torn done due to the extent of the damage, News.Az reports, citing US media.
The initial call came in around 11 p.m. Wednesday. No one was inside at the time; management had just locked up when flames began to shoot out of the building.
Deputy Fire Chief David Levenson said this was a difficult blaze to battle because of all of the flammable material inside, noting there was plenty of stuff inside "to help" the fire along. Crews also had trouble with the fire hydrants.
The damage to the structure is so extensive that Levenson said at one point it was too dangerous to go inside and extinguish the flames from the building's interior.
"There's still some fire up there we just can't get to because the building is unsafe to put firefighters in," Deputy Fire Chief Louis Lachance said.
It appears the fire started in the kitchen area, but the cause of the fire is still being determined. There was no word on any injuries.
This comes at the height of summer programming and is devastating for the community. For 25 years, the South Shore center has been a fixture in town, housing sports games, programs, camps, birthdays and special events.
"I'm pretty upset right now. Not gonna cry, but I'm close to that point," said Sean Cummings, whose children use the facility. "They aren't just trying to make you an excellent soccer player, or if you are playing another sport. They want you to be a great person, they want you to be a community leader, and that's what they really focus on. They have sessions outside of sports that just focus on the education aspect of soccer and life."
