Mirror apparently caused playground fire

There was a news story Friday that fascinated Houstonist, but we didn't get to comment on it: the tale of a playground that burned down because of a reflection off a mirror. You know, the same way you can fry an ant with a magnifying class — which, incidentally, is something Houstonist would never do. We'd also never set a playground on fire, for that matter.

The fire happened Thursday afternoon at Alexander Elementary off Beechnut and Dairy Ashford in southwest Houston. "It was first smoke. It was just smoldering and then it started to catch and it lit into flames," Assistant Principal Ting Shaw told KHOU. "The wind was blowing in this direction so it slowly was creeping across the mulch towards the swing set." Within minutes, the entire playground had burned to the ground — and firefighters said the mirror might have started things.

"Our maintenance department will be going from playground to playground checking the equipment," said Susan Castro, Alief District spokesperson.

Castro says the district will be removing any mirrors or reflective devices that could potentially lead to another fire.

Authorities say the fire might have been motivated by revenge: A group of ants was seen shifting the mirror into just the right position shortly before the blaze broke out.

Seriously, we wouldn't have thought you could burn something substantial down using a reflection, but we suppose if you can make a fire using a soda can and a chocolate bar, anything's possible. [See video of the playground fire from KHOU.]