Beckville Boy Scout rebuilds playground following destructive fires

BECKVILLE, Texas (KLTV) - An East Texas student is working to earn the rank of Eagle Scout by giving his small town a place to play again.

Abram Aguilar, an 8th grader at Beckville ISD, is currently building a playground on the site where two previous playgrounds were destroyed in separate fires.

The first fire happened in 2020 and was believed to be caused by spontaneous combustion. Following another community-build in 2021, the second playground burned in a second fire. Officials say that case is “still pending.”

A timeline showing the life of the Beckville community-built playground.(Blake Holland/KLTV)

After repainting the goals on a nearby basketball court, Aguilar thought he might as well build another playground for the community to enjoy.

“I remember playing a lot over here with my sister, my brother and all my friends. And then when the first one burned down, it was just like there was nowhere to really like go because Beckville isn’t very big,” he said.

Aguilar recently started the rebuild along with help from the community. When it comes to parts of the playground, what’s old is new again like the uncharred wood chips and salvageable playground pieces.

“It just burnt the paint,” he said about a swing set. “So, we just grinded that up and had some people in the community paint it for us.’

And it’s help from the community that’s fueling this project, along with money left in the old playground’s maintenance fund.

“I just want to thank the community for coming out and always being there for any project that we need. The community is always there for us,” Aguilar said.

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