The field house and its contents at the Danville High School practice football field was damaged in an early Thursday morning fire. “It feels like a suspicious fire,” said Interim Fire Chief Doug Simpson.

At 12:27 a.m., Danville Fire and Police departments responded to a fire on the field, which is located behind the DHS and down a steep hill at the end of Proctor Street. Firefighters were on the scene until about 3 a.m., Simpson said.

“We had a hard time getting to it,” he added. The fire trucks had to stay parked in the lot above the field and 400 feet of hose was carried down to put out the blaze, Simpson said.

If the trucks went down the hill, which is a popular sledding area on snow days in the winter, they wouldn’t be able to drive back up because they weigh 40,000 pounds, he added. “They’d be there forever.”

According to a DPD news release, the fire started in the grass next to the practice field house and spread to the structure causing extensive damage.

Firefighter Lt. David Spanyer is investigating the fire and DPD is leading the investigation, Simpson said.

No cost estimate of the loss of equipment and structure has been released, he said.

Officials believe the fire was intentionally set. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Danville Police Department at (859) 238-1220.