Tragedies with children involved always make a sad situation seem so much worse. Even more grievous is when tragedies are caused by juveniles themselves. The Duluth News Tribune reports that this was the case in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Lester Elementary School Playground on October first, a calm Saturday morning. A group of juveniles were experimenting with fire, and set the playground burning. Thankfully, schools are closed on Saturday, and no children were in the school building, but the fire destroyed the playground. The juveniles were charged with felony negligent fire arson in the fifth degree.
Many products that are made for children today are flame retardant, and almost all take flammability into account. Playgrounds, too, should be fireproofed. This is an impossible feat, but there are ways to ensure that fire will spread less quickly in a playground, allowing time for children to be evacuated in case of an emergency.
Consumer Reports recently did a review on rubber mulch and wood chips, two varieties of substances used in playground surfaces. The results showed that both are flammable, with rubber burning hotter. However, an important redeeming quality of rubber flooring in playgrounds is that wood chips are light, and are easily thrown about, quickly spreading fire. Rubber chips, on the other hand, are denser, and stay in place. If the rubber flooring is used in one area of the playground, the fire may be more easily contained, as the rubber stays put, withholding the fire from spreading.
Many playgrounds today are installing rubber mulch as a safe playground flooring option, because rubber has extra shock absorbency to alleviate the impact from falls. The tragedy in St. Louis highlights another safety factor of rubber mulch in playgrounds – the ability to better contain fire. School officials should be advised to lay the rubber flooring in a contained area of the playground so that in case of fire, the rubber contains the flames.
Tags: playground flammability, playground safety, playground surface, rubber mulch, rubber mulch flooring
