A Wheel Big Deal

Lack of inspections of carnival rides could put thrill seekers in danger

By D. Brian Burghart

The Ferris wheel at the Nevada State Fair operated last week even though a welder refused to perform repairs on the ride, saying it was too dangerous to fix.

Kurt Huntoon, owner of Protofab, 1080 Linda Way in Sparks, said that three of the radial arms, spokes, on the Ferris wheel were cracked, and the damage was so severe that he couldn’t repair them well enough to guarantee they’d stay fixed.

Nevada State Fair Chief Executive Officer Gary Lubra said he’d been made aware of the Huntoon’s charges, and he went out to look at the ride, but it appeared fine to him. According to State Fair promotional information, nearly 65,000 people visited the fair this year.

Even though the Nevada State Fair has packed up and moved on, Huntoon’s accusations raise questions about the safety of carnival rides that visit the Truckee Meadows. There is no requirement for government to inspect carnival rides that come to town for mechanical problems.

That could be a problem, since according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s latest annual study, there were about 3,120 rider injuries at fairs and carnivals last year, compared to 2,970 injuries five years earlier in 1994. Add in amusement parks, and there were 10,380 injuries on amusement rides last year. There was only one ride-related death in Nevada from 1987-99, according to the same document.

Ed Lopez, of Pacific Coast Shows and operator of the Ferris wheel, which traveled next to the Elko County Fair, was dismissive of Huntoon’s opinions about the safety of his Ferris wheel.

"It was just a couple of hairline cracks," said Lopez. "I just got a piece of aluminum rod and fixed it."

Huntoon said that the cracks were more than hairline. He said the aluminum tubing pieces were fractured about 75 percent of the way through. The cracks, said Huntoon, were about six inches from the hub, which was about 15 feet off the ground.

"I’m not a structural engineer, but I would not have run the thing in the condition it was in," Huntoon said.

"There were no problems," said Lopez. "We’d be crazy to run it if there were a problem. If someone were to get hurt, we’re the ones who’d lose our business license."

Lopez said the bigger issue is that there are no carnival ride inspections in Nevada. If there were, he said, when something like this came up, people wouldn’t have to worry.

"I don’t see why they don’t inspect these machines in your state," Lopez said. "I think it’s a good thing. Cal-OSHA is out about every month and a half, and to me that would be a lot safer."

Lopez said that the Ferris wheel will be inspected again before it is set up for the San Benito County Fair in Hollister, Calif.

Huntoon did not repair the machine, said Lopez, not because of the severity of the damage, but because Huntoon did not want the liability risk.

Huntoon said he wouldn’t have turned down the work, if he thought the machine could have been repaired safely.

"I went back to the shop, and I just didn’t feel good about the whole thing," he said. "I didn’t want to wake up Sunday morning and hear on the news about a tragedy at the State Fair."

It was his father, Russ, an employee of Protofab, who called a friend at the Washoe County Health Department to report the problem. He would not say whom he called, for fear of getting that person in trouble. He said his friend told him that he’d written a note to Gary Lubra, which outlined the problem and requested Lubra call Huntoon. Later that night, about 9 p.m., the elder Huntoon received a call on his cell phone that said everything was taken care of. He could not recall who made the call. He said Lubra did not call to investigate his son’s allegations.

"The ride went all weekend," Russ Huntoon said. "Whatever they did must have been adequate. Who am I to judge? If I say it isn’t safe, that’s a judgment call. Obviously, they thought there was something wrong, or they wouldn’t have called us out there to repair it in first place."

Wild Ride
Calls made to the State Fair office on Friday requesting information about inspections of carnival rides were not returned, although a secretary said that local inspections of the fair were done by the Reno Fire Department.

Captain Bonny Terry of the Fire Department disputed that information. She said that, as a condition of the Fair’s city business license, the fire department inspects electrical items like generators and makes sure fire lanes are open, but they don’t inspect the rides.

"When it comes down to the mechanical nature of the ride, we don’t do that," she said.

Bob Harmon, public information officer for Washoe County, said that the county doesn’t inspect the rides either, although the Health Department does inspect food outlets.

"As far as I’m aware, Clark County is the only agency that does those sorts of inspections," Harmon said. He also said that if people were hurt, even though the fair was held on City of Reno property (the RSCVA owns the Livestock Events Center building, but Reno owns the parking lot where the fair was held) neither the county nor the city would be liable. According to Harmon, members of the Nevada State Fair board of directors would be liable.

Attorney Kent Robison, a member of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association who also testifies as an expert witness in matters of premises liability, said assigning blame is not that simple.

Robison said the owner of the property (city of Reno), the lessor of the property (Nevada State Fair), the operator of the instrument (Pacific Coast Shows) and possibly even the manufacturer of the Ferris wheel could end up in court.

"Behind that is a Rubik’s cube of insurance-liability problems," he said.

Robison said that if the entity is a political subdivision of state, like the city of Reno, there is a $50,000 cap on damages. Nevada State Fair is a private nonprofit organization.

There are also possible issues of punitive damages, according to Robison.

"A conscious or reckless disregard for known safety standards or of hazardous conditions may result in an award of punitive damages," he said. "That gets serious. Punitive damages are society’s way of trying to deter reckless conduct."

Robison said since the ride functioned, and nobody was hurt, the issue is moot at this point.

On Monday, after the fair had closed down and the Ferris wheel had gone on its way, Lubra said he had received a handwritten note regarding Huntoon’s concern, but he couldn’t find a "Huntoon Welding" in the phone book and didn’t pursue the matter further.

"How was I to know who this guy was?" asked Lubra. "For all I knew, he bought a pass and didn’t like the rides."

Kurt Huntoon said that he’d left several business cards at the site and if anyone had wanted to get in touch with him, they’d have had no problem.

Lubra said he went out to the Ferris wheel and spoke to the vendor, who told him not to worry, as the ride was only four or five months old.

"There isn’t anybody in the state that does those kind of inspections," Lubra said. "California has very strict guidelines. The rides are certified there, so we use their certification."

Rides in Nevada are inspected by city code inspectors, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Consumer Product Safety Commission, Division of Recalls and Compliance, which has jurisdiction over mobile amusement rides. That does not appear to be true.

Ronald Shutt, of Consumer Affairs, Nevada Department of Business and Industry, is the Nevada contact for the CPSC. He said he sends out information about recalls and product hazards to the various counties. In Washoe, he said, he sends the data to the Building Inspections department.

"Clark County has a very strong inspection program," Shutt said. "As far as other counties—I just send out the information."

Shutt said that most carnival rides aren’t examined by a professional.

"Nevada needs regulations," he said. "The rides don’t have to be inspected. In order to make changes (to the law), it’s a legislative thing."