Rose Park playground damaged from fire, closed to the public

A fire at Rose Park in the Harambee neighborhood damaged a playground on Saturday, Oct. 17. Part of the park will now be closed to the public until further notice, according to the Milwaukee County Parks Department.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the cause of the fire.

The parks department is evaluating the cost to repair the damage.

The department did not say whether it has an official timeline for repairing the equipment. The evaluation will determine whether the department will cover the costs as a general operating expense or as a capital project.

Jasmine Lattimore lives across the street from Rose Park with her children and her boyfriend and she saw the fire from her window.

Lattimore first heard a large truck make noise when it pulled away from the park, and the sound piqued her interest. That is when she saw the playground on fire and began recording it on her phone.

"It was not a little bit (the fire), a whole lot," she said of the fire.

Lattimore has lived at the house on Dr. William Finlayson Street for about a month and has not seen any other incidents at the park.

Everett Eaton covers Harambee for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact: eeaton@usatodayco.com.

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