State officials in Tennessee banned the Fire Ball carnival ride after an accident at the Ohio State Fair.
Fire Ball was a swinging and spinning amusement park ride. On the day of the Ohio State Fair’s opening, the ride malfunctioned. It broke apart and hurled riders through the air. One person died and seven suffered injury, three of them critically.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRE BALL RIDE
Dramatic video of the incident shows the ride swinging back and forth like a pendulum when it crashed into something. Afterwards, a piece of the ride flew off, leading to the death and injuries.
Burns Phillips, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, announced the ban. California, Indiana and Kentucky issued similar bans on the Fire Ball.
In the wake of the accident, fair operators throughout the state committed to extra inspections and scrutiny to prevent incidents like this from happening again.
County fair and amusement park officials have a duty of care to protect patrons from injury. Due to the nature of amusement park rides, any mistake can have grave repercussions. When this duty of care is breached and leads to injury or death, the operators as well as any other involved parties, such as those who build, inspect and maintain rides, can be held liable under the doctrine of premises liability. If you have suffered injury as the result of a defective amusement park ride, speak to a personal injury attorney.
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