Orangevale youth baseball field impacted by second fire in 2 months

A youth baseball league and a middle school in Orangevale were impacted by a fire for the second time in as many months, officials said Thursday.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said crews responded shortly after 7:30 a.m. Thursday to a fire at Louis Pasteur Middle School. Crews arrived to find a porta potty at Mustang Field, the school's baseball field, actively burning.

According to the San Juan Unified School District, storage containers belonging to Orangevale Pony Baseball, lights on the school's campus and two trash cans on the property were also vandalized. The district noted that broken glass from the lights was cleaned up before students arrived for class.

Metro Fire said crews responded on July 5 to a similar fire at the campus. Porta-potties at the field had burned down due to fireworks from the Fourth of July. Bleachers nearby were also damaged by the flames.

Orangevale Pony Baseball posted a message to social media saying that they believe the acts have been intentional.

"After getting our porta potties back JUST ONE DAY AGO, someone intentionally set them on fire again. But this time, it didn't stop there — a fire was also set at the actual school, they tore down school lights and broken glass all over campus," Orangevale Pony wrote.

The league said it is working with law enforcement and is offering a reward for information that could lead to identifying whoever is responsible.

"Someone knows who is doing this. Someone has heard something. Someone may have seen something... Please think about what could happen if the next fire gets out of control. There are homes and families surrounding Pasteur. What if the next fire spreads beyond the school or our baseball fields?" Orangevale Pony Baseball wrote.

San Juan Unified said there was no impact on school programs.