SOUTH WALES, N.Y. — Vandals left a mess inside the ski lodge at Erie County's Emery Park.
Now the county says it will take two weeks to clean up, and until that happens, events there are going to be canceled.
Mark Cornell, the Erie County Deputy parks commissioner, believes kids are to blame for setting off six fire extinguishers and causing $40,000 in damages on June 28. The Erie County Sheriff's Office doesn't have any leads right now.
Cornell says whoever did it first stole two fire extinguishers from the fieldhouse. They then went over to the ski lodge where they set off an additional four fire extinguishers inside.
It got everywhere from the floor and walls to the ceilings. Now the cleanup process won't be easy.
"With fire extinguishers, they contain a number of irritating chemicals," Cornell said. "This isn't a simple cleanup. This is more of a decontamination at this point where we have to call in a vendor that has the expertise in this sort of cleanup."
Cornell says it's a shame they were just able to open the site to the public again for gatherings after COVID, and then this happens.
"Right out of the gate, we have to cancel a number of those events and I know those people are now scrambling to find other arrangements or are unable to. It's just very disappointing to not be able to provide these wonderful public resource," Cornell said.
He hopes to have the site cleaned up within the next two weeks.
In the meantime, the parks department will be contacting those who have scheduled events at the ski lodge.
Cornell says anyone who had one can get a refund.