A fire ripped through a shed at Magnolia High School in Anaheim and destroyed the football team’s equipment after practice Wednesday night, fire officials said.
Firefighters responded to 2450 W. Ball Rd. at about 9:30 p.m. to find the flames fully engulfing the shed, Anaheim Fire and Rescue Capt. Brent Faulkner said.
It took firefighters about 15 minutes to put out the blaze. The school’s main building was not threatened by the fire, and school was not in session at the time, fire officials said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Faulkner said.
The equipment destroyed included the football team’s sleds, jerseys and footballs.
On Friday, the team’s head coach Desmond Hernandez said he ran over to the campus after getting several calls from players and found the shed still ablaze.
“That’s all our stuff — all our hard work, everything — and the season’s a month away,” the coach told KTLA.
The setback won’t necessarily mean opponents can catch the team off-guard. Hernandez said the team still had practice the next day after the fire and are making do with what little equipment they have.
The coach says players were upset but have handled the loss of the equipment well.
“What was great to see is how mentally tough they’ve been, and they don’t even mention it,” Hernandez said. “We’re just here to practice.”
Hernandez asked those who wish to donate equipment to the team to reach out to him on Twitter.
“We will utilize anything that is donated to us, whether it’s sleds, whether it’s bags, whether it’s even (scrimmage jerseys),” he said. “We will not say no to anything.”
Hi Friends… if you’re interested in helping us recover from the fire that destroyed our football shed and equipment, please consider donating using the following link:
https://t.co/iQ0JBiDYrt— Desmond Hernandez (@C0achHernandez) July 19, 2019