Calaveras Fair Ride Collapse Probe Underway

Sounds to me like one of the toothless, cranked up carnies forgot to tighten a bolt.

Have you seen the tweekers that put these rides together? There is no way I would ever let my kids ride something that was put together by someone who has been up for 4 days straight.

Pecorino wrote:

Sounds to me like one of the toothless, cranked up carnies forgot to tighten a bolt.

give them a break, i am sure they have at least one tooth.

I was at the emergency room last night with my son. That 12 year-old girl was across the way from the room we were in. The whole thing was a nightmare. The woman who had taken her to the fair along with 4 other children was in the line for triage right behind us. Her parents were still driving to get there.

She said that they had been sent to several different hospitals before they were finally sent to UCD where the girl actually was at. Her injuries were pretty severe, although I don't know exactly what they were.. She had wrappings around her head and arm and she was admitted to stay at least for last night.

That's all I know about that... but, they were saying that when the ride crashed, it sounded like a train wreck!

There's a good story about this too. The woman who was behind us told us that her daughter was going to go on the ride, and at the last minute, changed her mind because she had been having a headache all day.

You never know when a small miracle is going to occur in your life!

I've talked with some of the carney's and have been told that at the end of a carnival, you close your ride (11pm), take apart the ride, load it up onto a trailer, drive 3 hours, unload and reassemble and be ready the next day for another carnival. It seems coffee wouldn't quite cut it for that sort of work.

This is why I avoid the smaller fair rides...And the fact that a chair attached to a metal chain that swings around inches from other objects doesn't quite sit right with me.

Fair warning - California carneys in particular the ride guys are serious hypes.

Many many years ago I worked as a "carney" in Washington and Oregon. I could make several hundred dollars a day running a "particular" type of game in a busy spot. It was pretty easy to save three thousand a month for six months. It was a pretty clean show back in the late 80's up there.

The Cali carneys have been and always will be a mess. Scary places after "roll up" (closing) the drugs run amok, your daughters get "trained" (that means the guy that found her AND his friends) and worst yet around 90% of them are running from the law somewhere.

We did not have tweakers in the games end of the Carney. Ride guys though, thats a whole nother' story..........

Back in 89 and 90 a ride operator got a ten dollar a day draw from a grand total of $150.00 for the week. A ride supervisor (makes 450.00 a week) runs his crew like a prison guard and will not hesitate to "slough" (beat down) an "employee" for screwing up.

In this case you can bet the person that made the mistake payed a pretty heavy price.

Before you flame on me; It was a long time ago and I was but a nutty kid.(:

that was a good read, good memories if you survived it lol

[quote who="ride operator"]
weight does not matter I used to operate that ride for that company and it sounds like it was low on hydraulic fluid that is all....[/quote]

Do you know if there is a safety switch for low fluid on that ride and what exactly it does? How would low fluid cause a complete collapse, and just prevent it from reaching its full height?

What are you instructed to do if a rider reports the ride feels jerky or bumpy in some unusual fashion?

So far in these reports, I've read or heard several people state that they heard strange sounds from the ride for up to 2 hours before the failure. Some have stated they reported the abnormal condition to the operator. I'd really like to hear this angle, and soon.

ride operator wrote:

weight does not matter I used to operate that ride for that company and it sounds like it was low on hydraulic fluid that is all....

Do you know if there is a safety switch for low fluid on that ride and what exactly it does? How would low fluid cause a complete collapse, and just prevent it from reaching its full height?

What are you instructed to do if a rider reports the ride feels jerky or bumpy in some unusual fashion?

So far in these reports, I've read or heard several people state that they heard strange sounds from the ride for up to 2 hours before the failure. Some have stated they reported the abnormal condition to the operator. I'd really like to hear this angle, and soon.

Hope everyone is ok!

When I was a kid my dad would never let my brother and I on any fair carnival rides. He would always say "you aren't riding on those things they are put up and taken down in one day there is bound to be a bolt or two missing" And know that I have kids I won't let them ride on them either this is a perfect example why. Dad was right