Children burned after pool chemical poured on slides at Longmeadow playground
LONGMEADOW - Two children suffered burns after someone poured a pool chemical down three slides at a playground in Longmeadow.
Ashley Thielen just moved to Longmeadow with her three young kids and Sunday morning was the first time she brought them to the playground at nearby Bliss Park.
"I can't understand why somebody would do something like that," Thielen said.
She noticed a puddle at the bottom of the slide the kids were using but didn't think much of it.
"Carys started crying and saying 'mommy it hurts, it hurts,'" Thielen said.
The two-year-old had this blistering burn on her leg and mom smelled a strong chemical. So, she headed home, popped her kids in the tub and called police who summoned an ambulance to examine the youngsters.
"Obviously that's really angering," Thielen said.
Angering, because police would determine that between dusk Saturday and dawn Sunday, someone intentionally poured muriatic acid onto three slides. Acid they'd stolen by breaking into the pump room beneath the adjacent city pool. It appears someone climbed two fences, then entered through a ventilation shaft.
Muriatic acid is often used to control the pH level in pools or to strip nasty gunk off concrete pool decks. But direct contact with your skin can cause serious chemical burns or even blind you if it gets in your eyes.
"It's not that far of a stretch to think that the people that are going to be affected by something like that are going to be little children," Thielen said.
At least one other child suffered burns Sunday morning and that brought hazmat teams to scour the playground and fence it off. The empty acid jugs were found in the nearby woods. Massachusetts State Police gathered evidence that was sent to the crime lab for forensic analysis and fingerprinting.
Police said the pool chemicals were stored properly in a secured area and "a great deal of effort was employed to enter this space."
Neighbors suspect this is a teen prank gone horribly awry.
"Why would you do that? You don't want to hurt anybody especially little kids, the most vulnerable people," said Doug Lamont.
Investigators believe that whoever took the chemicals likely suffered acid burns on their hands or arms.
A crew was hired to clean the playground, which is currently shut down. The fire chief said it will remain closed for a few more days and will be cleaned again.
The park has no surveillance cameras, but police hope a neighbor's might have recorded the culprit's getaway.
"I'm hoping people will check those cameras and see if they see anything out of the ordinary," Thielen said.
Despite their acid encounter, Ashley's kids are already bugging her to take them back to the playground.