A teenager is still fighting for his life after an explosion at a playground in Mount Joy. 18-year-old Angelo Zino is still in the hospital while a 17-year-old who was also injured in the blast has been released.
Police still have not charged anyone in this arson, although the two teens injured in the explosion are considered persons of interest. But the community of Mount Joy isn’t waiting around to see what police do. They’re moving forward.
“We felt the house shake. I’m thinking to myself, what in the world was that?” recalled Garth Jernigan, who lives near the playground. “I thought something had hit the side of my house, like a vehicle.”
On the night of Friday, September 28, the popular landmark in Mount Joy was destroyed. An explosion caused by an unknown accelerant damaged the Joyland Playground to the point where it cannot be repaired.
Back in 1994 when this playground was originally built, it was such a large community effort that the names of the people who donated were etched into the wood that surrounded it. But now, as you can see, the pickets have been taken down and they will be returned to the people who made that original donation.
But starting Wednesday night, Mount Joy will come together to do it all over again. From 6 to 8 p.m., the community will gather at St. Mark’s Church to start the process of building a new playground.
“We want the kids to dream,” explained Scott Hershey, Borough Manager for Mount Joy. “We want the parents to put those dreams down on the survey form. We also want to hear from the parents, too if there’s something different they want to see.”
It’s unknown how much insurance money the borough will get. But ultimately it doesn’t seem to matter.
“You just have to come out here and watch the little kids walk around. The parents try to explain and make sense of what happened,” Hershey told CBS 21. “Something negative happened here. But what’s done is done. Let’s turn it into a positive and move on and let’s do something as good or better as what we had before.”
Again, that meeting will be Wednesday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church on Main Street in Mount Joy.
Police still have not charged anyone in this arson, although the two teens injured in the explosion are considered persons of interest. But the community of Mount Joy isn’t waiting around to see what police do. They’re moving forward.
“We felt the house shake. I’m thinking to myself, what in the world was that?” recalled Garth Jernigan, who lives near the playground. “I thought something had hit the side of my house, like a vehicle.”
On the night of Friday, September 28, the popular landmark in Mount Joy was destroyed. An explosion caused by an unknown accelerant damaged the Joyland Playground to the point where it cannot be repaired.
Back in 1994 when this playground was originally built, it was such a large community effort that the names of the people who donated were etched into the wood that surrounded it. But now, as you can see, the pickets have been taken down and they will be returned to the people who made that original donation.
But starting Wednesday night, Mount Joy will come together to do it all over again. From 6 to 8 p.m., the community will gather at St. Mark’s Church to start the process of building a new playground.
“We want the kids to dream,” explained Scott Hershey, Borough Manager for Mount Joy. “We want the parents to put those dreams down on the survey form. We also want to hear from the parents, too if there’s something different they want to see.”
It’s unknown how much insurance money the borough will get. But ultimately it doesn’t seem to matter.
“You just have to come out here and watch the little kids walk around. The parents try to explain and make sense of what happened,” Hershey told CBS 21. “Something negative happened here. But what’s done is done. Let’s turn it into a positive and move on and let’s do something as good or better as what we had before.”
Again, that meeting will be Wednesday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church on Main Street in Mount Joy.