It takes months of planning, training to make Fair a safe, enjoyable experience

Don Coble

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Inspectors spent days examining every bolt of all 42 rides provided by Deggeller Attractions ahead of Thursday’s opening of the Clay County Agricultural Fair.

Days after a 14-year-old fell to his death from a ride in Orlando, the amusement company is following its customary and tedious process to make sure its rides are structurally sound, safe and entertaining.

CEO Adam Deggeller said the accident could be a learning experience for all amusement companies.

“The investigation is still ongoing. What I can tell you as a midway operator is the best thing I can do, once the facts come out, is getting the information so I can train my staff, to make sure things like that don’t happen again,” Deggeller said.

Tyre Sampson, 14, died when he came out of his seat during a 75-mph rapid descent when the 6-foot-5, 345-pound boy fell out of his seat as the ride braked following a 430-foot drop from what’s advertised as the world’s tallest free-fall ride.

Sampson wasn’t allowed to join his cousins on two other rides at the park because he was too big, his family said. Investigators said the safety harness was still in a locked position after Sampson fell. However, the maximum allowable weight is listed at 287 pounds.

Deggeller said his staff will be diligent in following all safety protocols.

“I can tell you that we have a highly-trained staff. We send many of them to places where they can learn about ride safety and learn about proper techniques in dealing with the public,” he said. “Right now, the ride inspectors are out there and they’ve been here since (Monday). We’ve been setting up for over 10 days now. We’re going to do everything we can to keep the customers and our employees as safe as humanly possible.”

Fair association officials have worked with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Fire Rescue and Emergency Management to make sure everyone has a good time during all 11 days of the fair. If all goes well as planned, nearly 150,000 fairgoers won’t even know they’re there.

An important tool is the county’s new SaferWatch app. The free app is available for all Smartphones and iPhones and it allows users to receive or report information to the sheriff’s department.

Another tool is the county’s update alerts that warn users of threatening weather and other dangerous situations. You can sign up for that service at claycountygov.com.

Deggeller said his company is committed to doing its part.

“We have a lot of people, a lot of eyes, out there looking at this equipment,” he said. “We have a safety coordinator who is constantly on our midway, walking around every second that we’re open, specifically looking for things that could be a hazard.

“We are going to keep people as safe as we can. We want them to have a great time. We want them to enjoy themselves. We want them to not have to worry about whether or not they can feel safe.”

While many of the rides are made more thrilling by height and speed, Deggeller said the most-popular rides have always been the classics like the Merry-Go-Round, Ferris wheel and Tilt-A-Whirl.

“I would say it depends on who you ask. The giant Ferris wheel is always close to the top of the list. Families, teenagers, everybody rides that. Some of the classics – Tilt-A-Whirl, Merry-Go-Round – are always big,” he said.

“We bring new rides in every year with hopes that one will be one of the favorites. But a lot of the people enjoy the rides that have been around for a long time. Classics never die.”

Or feel threatening.