Excavator fire at White Park in Concord under investigation

An excavator caught fire Tuesday night at White Park near the construction site of what will be a splash pad for children.

The fire did not damage the construction area and will not delay the build, said Concord Park And Recreation Director David Gill.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Concord fire and police departments.

By next spring, the splash pad will be open to the public for children to tromp among familiar structures like a whale, mushrooms and tumble buckets. Construction replaces what was a shallow kiddie pool.

The old pool was excavated over the summer and, since then, the foundation and piping were placed to serve the 25 features of the splash pad. 

Though the bases of the features are installed, they won’t be bolted to the structure until the spring. In the meantime, work will continue over the winter on the landscape, interior renovations, the facade of the buildings and water feature installations, said Concord Public Information Officer Stefanie Breton in September. 

The construction of the splash pad cost the Parks and Recreation Committee $650,000 while the renovation of the kiddie pool would have cost an estimated $550,000. 

The equipment that was damaged Tuesday night was owned by a private contractor, not by the city, Gill said. The 20-acre park hosts the annual Black Ice Pond Hockey Tournament and the largest playground in the city.