California football field blaze leaves even opposing coaches hot, empathetic

Even amidst reports that the fire that damaged Mt. Diablo field might have been by accident, emotions still running high; Red Devils' coach remains philosophical

The charred out middle of the field from an Aug. 23 fire to the Mt. Diablo (Concord, Calif.) field / Jay Bedecarre/Concord Clayton Pioneer

Hillsdale of San Mateo (Calif.) High School football coach Mike Parodi called Mt. Diablo (Concord) coach Fetuao Mua on the phone Monday, the moment he heard that part of Red Devils' brand new stadium turf was damaged badly due to a fire. 

Brand new field set ablaze; Home season in jeopardy

Hillsdale is scheduled to play at Hart Fairclough Stadium Sept. 12, but that’s not why Parodi called. 

“Hey, no matter what, we’ll figure out a way to play that game whether the field gets repaired or not,” said Parodi, in his 30th season of coaching and 17 as the head coach for Hillsdale. “I just left a voice mail letting them know we’re thinking of them and if there’s anything we can do to help, we’re here for them.” 

The reaction to the blaze which took place late Saturday night and into Sunday morning burned a big chunk of the middle of the field, was wide.

Closer photo of more charred remains from a fire that destroyed a portion of Mt. Diablo High School's new $-multi-million field that was to be unveiled on Friday. / Photo by Jay Bedecarre/Concord Clayton Pioneer

Visceral reaction

All fire is violent and destructive and elicits visceral responses. But what made this blaze so upsetting to all in the community and surrounding areas is that this state-of-the-art field, at the cost of more than $3-million dollars, was to be unveiled on Friday night. The field and all-weather track was completed in March.  

It happened to a program that has been lamented among losses for decades, but over the last two seasons under Mua, picked up serious momentum, including its first leage championship last season since 1972.

That’s what touched a nerve in Parodi, whose school is on the other side of the Bay, but is a public school. He and Mua are not friends and the two schools have never met.  Parodi is a lifer in the sport, the son of another football lifer by the same name. Mike Sr. coached at CCSF for 36 years, helping the Rams to seven national titles.

Parodi knows the pains and pings it takes to get a public-school program in the right direction.

'Disgusting' if set on purpose

“The minute I heard, my heart dropped,” Parodi said. “As someone from a public school, we know how hard it is to get a project like that done. To have a hater in the community to feel it's necessary to ruin it for a bunch of kids is disgusting.”

Mua told the Bay Area News Group Tuesday that he’s tried to use the fire as a teaching moment. And the fact of the matter is, the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

The Mercury News reported that police actually believe a group of several people, possibly juveniles, might have set off fireworks on the field, which set the field ablaze.  

That makes it very possible that the fire wasn’t set intentionally. 

The main thing Mua and the Red Devils are focused on is continuing their season, or actually, getting it started. 

Closer photo of even more charred remains from a fire that destroyed a portion of Mt. Diablo High School's new $-multi-million field that was to be unveiled on Friday. | Photo by Jay Bedecarre/Concord Clayton Pioneer / Photo by Jay Bedecarre/Concord Clayton Pioneer

Concord High to the rescue

Nearby Concord High School will serve as the team’s home stadium for the first two games (eight home games were scheduled this season). That’s also where the team will hold practice for the first two weeks. 

Meanwhile school officials told the newspaper that it hopes to repair the field in the next few weeks, which won’t be easy considering the high quality of the turf. If it’s not ready by the third week of the season, more adjustments will need to be made, including the game against Hillsdale. 

“Life throws you curve balls and sometimes you just have to learn how to roll with the punches,” Mua told Nathan Canilao of BANG. “It’s just a little adversity. This is going to give us a chance to build a little more character, and it’s just another speed bump in the road for us. It’s nothing we can’t handle.” 

Parodi said he’s hopeful for the Red Devils as well. 

“Praying that people next door have cameras to find out what really happened,” he said. “We need to do whatever we can to prevent kids from being hurt. Any day that makes kids’ lives harder is not a good day at all.”

manual