ERIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — More than a dozen people were trapped mid-air on a festival ride for hours Wednesday night at the annual Irish Day carnival in Erin, Tennessee.
Erin police chief Mark Moore said 19 people were stuck for nearly 4 hours when the popular Star Tower ride malfunctioned.
"This ride, I'm never riding that again. I'm too scared to ride it," said 10-year-old Carmen Fulton, who was on the attraction. "I used to love heights...I'm afraid of heights now."
Around midnight Wednesday, Montgomery County firefighters, who were called in to help Houston County, rescued riders one by one.
"The big deal was everybody stayed calm and everybody trusted the people in charge — and they did a really good job," remembered Carmen's grandfather, Lance Uffelman.
While everyone made it to the ground safely, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development says they're working on figuring out why this happened in the first place.
He shared that the ride was inspected two days before the malfunction.
Casey's Rides, which assembles the carnival rides, says the tower swing was a new ride that was just brought to the United States. A manufacturer was present Wednesday to make sure it was set up properly. They add that this is the first issue ever reported at the festival in Erin.
The carnival, which draws thousands to Erin's town square, is still open the rest of the weekend. The ride in question, however, is closed for now.
A state official says inspectors will do a follow-up inspection. If it's cleared, the company has the right to operate the ride again.
Casey's Rides' full statement is below:
On March 12 at approximately 9 PM, our Star Tower ride experienced a malfunction. We are relieved to report that all patrons were safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported.
The ride was thoroughly inspected prior to operation per the manufacturer's specifications. The manufacturer is sending a technician to assess the Star Tower and determine the cause of the malfunction.
Casey’s Rides has been safely operating amusement park rides at the Erin Irish Day carnival for many years, and this is the first issue ever reported. We sincerely thank the first responders for their swift response and appreciate the community’s patience and understanding.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
Fundraising efforts are underway in Brownsville and Nutbush, TN to build a statue for a major superstar who was raised there, Anna Mae Bullock. You probably know her by her stage name, Tina Turner. I was a huge fan of Tina and glad to see efforts are underway to showcase more of her ties to West Tennessee.
-Lelan Statom
