Community Chat

[PINKdogWOOD]

Such an unbelieveable sad state of affairs here.  The fair just opened yesterday too. We woke up to this tragic local news when we turned on the tv. 

As others have said, exactly why I would NEVER get on any ride anywhere.

[Ms Nixie]

.

[azgal]

---

@Lipstickdiva wrote:

When I was little, my parents would not allow my sister or me to ride on any "pop up rides" at fairs, carnivals, etc.  I remember being so upset, thinking they were being over protective and telling them that all my friends were allowed to.  But stuff like this is precisely why they wouldn't let us.  They always said that we were only 30 minutes from Cedar Point, if we wanted to ride rides, that's where we would ride them. 

This is just awful.     

My dad overhauled airplane engines for Pan Am so he knew how important it was to have everything perfect. He would never let us ride the pop up rides either. Carnival or state fair.

Our local news said Arizona is one of only nine states that don't have a department to inspect amusement rides. Terrible. 

[2blonde]

I live in Ohio.  It's been all over the local news since last evening.  I was appalled when I saw the video, which they tastefully had blurred on our local station to avoid some of the graphic nature.  If several officials can stand up before reporters saying how many times these rides are inspected, then that tells me people should avoid them.  What good are 3 inspections if the ride still is unsafe?  When you think about how many times these traveling rides have been assembled and disassembled........well what does that tell you about the stability?  As one other poster said.......go to Cedar Point if you want rides.  This is just awful IMO.

[meallen616]

How awful, sooo sad,

[happycat]

I can't imagine how horrifying it would have been to have actualy been there in person. Just seeing video which has been edited is bad enough.

My son was at an amusement park in our state this last Sunday. Monday, people at that park got stuck on a roller coaster for an hour or so. He said that he wouldn't be going back, that 2 of the rides that were operating when he was there, were having problems.

Its not worth the risk. I know the parks are not pop up, but they seem to have issues too.

And as another poster said, what does this tell us, if these rides were inspected three times and this happens?

[Moonchilde]

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (founded in 1907) is a very permanent venue, but also has this ride. I knew it had shut down yesterday because of the Ohio accident, but I didn't know about the State fair and the OC Fair also having these. Wow.

From local news:

"The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is taking extra safety measures after a deadly ride malfunction at the Ohio State Fair killed one person and left seven others injured.

That very same ride is in our own backyard.

"On Wednesday night a Boardwalk spokesperson confirmed that the ride known as the "Fireball" was shut down as a precaution.

"On the Boardwalk's website the Fireball is touted as "Thrilling disorientation at its finest!" with "powerful G-forces".

"We inspect the rides daily. The Fireball was inspected Wednesday morning and passed," said Boardwalk Community Affairs Director Kris Reyes. Another inspection of the Fireball will be conducted Thursday morning.

State law requires all rides at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk be inspected daily. The Fireball is expected to reopen Thursday pending a more thorough inspection.

"According to the Associated Press, dramatic video captured by a bystander Wednesday evening at the Ohio State Fair shows the Fireball ride swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Suddenly it crashes into something and part of the ride flies off. Screams are heard as passengers are thrown up into the air and onto the ground.

"The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is not the only California amusement park to err on the side of caution. The same ride was shut down at the California State Fair in Sacramento and the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa."

[Plaid Pants2]

I swear, I have had nightmares where I am on a park ride, and it falls apart, and I go flying throught the air. *shudder*

[Nataliesgramma]

I am wondering what the name of the Company that provided the rides. Our County fair is coming up at the end of August and they usually use Bates Bros.

I have always felt comfortable with Bates Bros.....their employees looked clean, spoke English, wore blue company shirts, rides looked new not rusty and they always made sure riders were buckled in properly before starting the ride. They also made sure riders met the height requirements for rides..

I have been to other fairs where the rides were rusty and I was amazed people and especially little kids, would ride them safely.

[Laura14]

The young man who supposedly took the video claimed on GMA that the ride was sped up by the operator and the crowd was yelling to slow it down because the people were having trouble dealing with the rough ride.  If that's true, no amount of inspection is going to help improper operation.

And just a personal observation/issue, that video I could not even watch on ABC.  Kudos to CNN for stopping it in a more appropriate place.