photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

A park shelter was damaged after an early morning fire on March 30, 2023, at Chief Jim McSwain Park at the corner of 19th Street and Haskell Avenue.

Updated at 1:35 p.m. Thursday, March 30, 2023

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical crews extinguished a fire at a park shelter early Thursday morning that caused an estimated $40,000 in damage.

Fire crews were dispatched at 5:50 a.m. to Chief Jim McSwain Park at the corner of East 19th Street and Haskell Avenue, which is near the LDCFM training tower. The fire was under control by 6:01 a.m., according to a release from the department.

When crews arrived, the shelter and the picnic tables were engulfed in flames, the release said. The estimated cost of the damage is $40,000 to the city-owned property, according to the release. No injuries were reported.

The metal roof of the shelter had been peeled back, and several picnic tables under the shelter were covered in soot and ash.

The state fire marshal is conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire, the release said.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Fire investigators were working to determine the cause of a fire at a city park shelter on March 30, 2023, at Chief Jim McSwain Park at the corner of 19th Street and Haskell Avenue.

photo by: Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical

Fire crews work to extinguish a city park shelter on fire just before 6 a.m. on March 30, 2023, at Chief Jim McSwain Park at the corner of 19th Street and Haskell Avenue.