A childish fire extinguisher prank has sparked a fire of emotions.

Festival of Music volunteers were rightfully upset after someone set off a fire extinguisher inside Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center’s auditorium.

Volunteers with the festival have poured thousands and thousands of dollars and countless hours of time in improving the building over the last few years.

So seeing that someone disrespected the group’s work with vandalism was completely understandable.

A group of youth from the city’s Youth Build program seemed likely responsible as they were the newest tenants to the building. The group responded and cleaned up the mess.

Now that the immediate problem has subsided, the question of what will happen next needs to be handled.

Festival leaders want the youth group out of the building.

However, doing that seems shortsighted. Margaret Martin is a large building which can easily accommodate both groups, even if doing so requires a little compromise and some working together.

Festival organizers should consider offering the Youth Build group a second chance.

The issues can be resolved if the parties involved seek to find common ground rather than draw lines in the sand.

If the issue is one of security concerns, let’s address those and see if the two sides can work together.

Our community is great because of our differences, not in spite of them. How we work together speaks volumes to outsiders about our true nature.

Letting an isolated prank divide two important community groups does little to move our community ahead. Let’s seek a compromise for the betterment of all.