Collapse of inflatable slide blamed on setup mistakes

TULALIP – An inflatable slide that collapsed and injured nine people at the Tulalip Casino was operated negligently and in violation of the manufacturer’s safety instructions, police said.

The “Titanic” slide was part of a carnival that casino officials brought in July 30 for employees. The 36-foot-tall ride collapsed, tossing riders to the ground. Seven people were treated at a hospital.

The police report will be delivered to the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office this week, Tulalip Police Chief Jay Goss said Wednesday. The company could face a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment, he said.

“When you have rules and safety regulations that advise you how to set up that ride and make that ride safe, and you ignore those regulations, there is negligence,” he said.

The ride is supposed to have at least two people operating it, but had only one, Goss said. Also, the woman operating the ride was hired through a day-labor company and was given a 15-minute briefing on how to run the ride, but had not undergone safety training, he said.

In addition, there were nine passengers on the slide, while the maximum allowed is four, he said.

The ride also was improperly secured, Goss said. It was supposed to be secured at 16 points, but was weighted down only at about six. Safety instructions called for large spikes or 350-pound bags of weight to be used at each point to stabilize the ride. Instead, lighter sandbags were used, Goss said.

“The weight of the sandbags was at least 70 percent off of that weight level,” he said.

Officials at Sonsational Activities, which owns the ride, didn’t talk to police and haven’t responded to The Herald’s request for comment.

The company sent a report to the state Department of Labor and Industries that claimed the ride began to deflate while seven to 10 people remained on it. Seven children slid off the upper portion, which was 12 to 15 feet above the ground, the report said.

The report said the company had almost two years experience with more than 120 event runs without incident, and the ride operator was “a mature, responsible lady who had run the ride with no problems or concerns.”

The company said it was investigating to determine why the blowers that kept the ride inflated turned off, and why more than four children were on it at one time.

Washington state does not regulate inflatable rides, instead allowing the industry to self-regulate with assistance from the state, Labor and Industries spokesman Ron Langley said.

Operators are supposed to notify the state within 24 hours of an accident involving serious injury. Sonsational’s report wasn’t submitted within that time period, officials said.

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