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Huge flames engulfed the school playground on the campus of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Hamilton Square Wednesday evening, sending swirling smoke into the air that was visible for miles.

Nottingham Fire Company sent multiple fire trucks to the site at the back of the church’s property along Nottingham Way. Hamilton police also responded.

Nottingham Fire Company Chief Gary Dempster said he saw the column of smoke coming from playground before even receiving a call about the fire.

District 7 Fire Marshall Scott McCormick said Sept. 3 the Hamilton police have labeled the incident "suspicious," and are still investigating how the fire started on a cool, cloudless 64-degree night. There are no wires or utilities near the playground, McCormick said, meaning the fire had to be set.

No one has come forward yet to volunteer information about the cause of the fire. McCormick said anyone with leads should call the Hamilton police at (609) 581-4100. Police did start interviewing the residents who live in the neighborhood next the St. Gregory the Great property, as well as people on the scene, Sept. 2.

Spectators on the scene were busy discussing rumors the fire had multiple gallons of gasoline as its catalyst, but Dempster said officials hadn’t begun to think about the cause so soon after extinguishing the fire and any official announcement would have to wait until Thursday morning.

Responders put the fire out quickly, using layer upon layer of foam to kill the flames. Neighbors and church members who heard the news flocked to see the fire, which took place at the property’s front playground alongside the all-purpose community building parishioners call the parish center.

Hamilton resident Pedro Pizarro was walking toward the parish center for a meeting a little after 7:30 p.m. when he saw a small fire starting beneath the playground. He said he ran into the meeting to ask for a fire extinguisher while a woman in the meeting called the police to report the incident. By the time Pizarro ran back out to the playground, large flames surrounded the equipment. He guessed the entire sequence took him five minutes, in which time the fire became too large to control with just a fire extinguisher.

"It's a shame," he said. "I don't get it. It had to be done quick. Rubber does burn, but this was quick. I don't know. Maybe there was some kind of accelerant."

The fire completely melted the recycled rubber mulch around the playground. The slide was twisted and shriveled. A lump of burnt, black material rested where steps once stood, allowing children up to the playground. A pungent smell wafted through the air.

St. Gregory the Great School principal Joan Pramberger saw the fire from her office window about 7:30 p.m. as she worked on final preparations for the school year. The incident comes less than a week before St. Gregory the Great School opens for the 2009-2010 academic year. The K-8 institution has its first day Sept. 8. The start of school will not be delayed because of the fire.

“When I looked out the window and saw black smoke, I ran,” she said. “I had no idea that was what I was going to see.”

The school PTA funded the playground about eight years ago. It cost $36,000 to install both the equipment and the rubber mulch, which Pramberger said school officials chose because it is softer and has more bounce than traditional woodchips.

Pramberger said watching the fire upset her greatly, but she found herself in a more optimistic place the morning after the incident. She joked school administrators and teachers would have to get creative on how to entertain the children during recess now that the playground will be off-limits for a while.

“It was upsetting to think about who would do something like that,” she said. “But no one was hurt, and the buildings weren’t damaged."

Continue to check back for updates as this story develops.