Four hurt in accident on the Raging River ride at Adventureland.
- Thread starter lucas80
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Yes, unfortunately I believe it was probably just a very tragic accident. The power and force of moving water can do unbelievable things you’d never imagine was possible. Add in perhaps uneven weight distribution, the raft colliding with a wall, a wave that catches that momentum etc. and next thing you know you’re upside down strapped in by a belt, panicking and injured.
- Sep 13, 2002
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I’m a bad friend and I feel bad
Single Speed was choice #2, so that will be where we go next time and the first beer is on me.
Adventureland Resort employees stood by as members of the Jaramillo family were trapped beneath their overturned raft in the Raging River ride July 3, the family's attorney claimed.
Lawyer Ryan Best said his account comes from conversations with numerous witnesses who reached out to him as news spread of the holiday weekend tragedy. Eleven-year-old Michael Jamarillo died after the boat flipped and his 16-year-old brother, David, was critically injured.
"The first people to help my clients were park guests," Best said. "No one from the park responded to this incident prior to the first responders' arrival."
Adventureland did not directly respond to Best's account but said that park workers' actions were "prompt."
"Prompt action was taken by the ride operator, park security, and on-site park EMS crew to respond," said spokeswoman Molly Vincent.
A review of fire department incident reports and radio broadcasts by public safety agencies shows:
Michael died early Sunday at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. David was taken out of a medically induced coma Friday at the hospital, but remained on life support.
"We're clear back over here behind the Phoenix on the Raging River, about as far east in the park as you can get. But we’re going to need to somehow get ambulance to this location," a firefighter said over the emergency radio about 10 minutes into the response.
Yet more than 15 minutes after the first call to 911, ambulances had not arrived at the ride, with some heading instead toward the north entrance to the park during confusion as to whether they could enter the gate nearest the ride.
"We've got ambulances going into the north gate, the employee entrance. We need them to come to Gate 2," a firefighter said.
As a result, the first ambulance to reach Gate 2 appears not to have arrived 15 minutes after units were dispatched, as indicated by the time codes on the recordings.
Even when they did arrive, setup for a fireworks show blocked direct access for ambulances, the incident report said.
Park officials declined to comment on whether staff attempted to use a quick release valve — a typical feature of similar rides designed by Raging River maker Intamin — to drain the ride. Firefighters reported finding two feet of water in the ride when they arrived.
Altoona Fire Department Deputy Chief Lance Routson, who was at the scene, said he did not know whether there was such a valve, but that the water appeared to be at its normal level.
In declining to comment further, Vincent, the Adventureland spokesperson, said Adventureland was focusing on the investigation and "support for the Jaramillo family."
While the Jaramillos, from suburban Cedar Rapids, were not available for comment, their minister said in an email Friday that he does not believe they had had any contact from park officials.
"I have been with the Jaramillos since Sunday morning, July 4th. As far as I know, Adventureland has not reached out, communicated with, or offered any kind of support. To the best of my knowledge there has been no communication between Adventureland and the family at all," said pastor Christian Shields.
"We continue to remain heartbroken over the loss of Michael and are continuing to pray for miracles over young David."
Staff Writer Kim Norvell and Investigations Editor Bill Steiden contributed to this report.
Daniel Lathrop is a staff writer on the Register's investigative team. Reach him at (319) 244-8873 or dlathrop@dmreg.com.
Lawyer Ryan Best said his account comes from conversations with numerous witnesses who reached out to him as news spread of the holiday weekend tragedy. Eleven-year-old Michael Jamarillo died after the boat flipped and his 16-year-old brother, David, was critically injured.
"The first people to help my clients were park guests," Best said. "No one from the park responded to this incident prior to the first responders' arrival."
Adventureland did not directly respond to Best's account but said that park workers' actions were "prompt."
"Prompt action was taken by the ride operator, park security, and on-site park EMS crew to respond," said spokeswoman Molly Vincent.
A chained gate, a 911 call
Fire department records and recordings of radio traffic between dispatchers and emergency responders show the response as the boys were pinned under a capsized raft.A review of fire department incident reports and radio broadcasts by public safety agencies shows:
- The entrance designated for emergency responders was chained shut when firefighters arrived.
- Off-duty Altoona police and fire personnel working for the park were the first to arrive — but they and Adventureland security were not notified of the incident by park employees.
- The first word 911 operators got of the tragedy came from a bystander, rather than park officials. Confusion followed as the caller, sometimes drowned out by screaming people, tried to figure out the name of the ride and its location in the park.
- Ride operators either did not or could not perform CPR.
Michael died early Sunday at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. David was taken out of a medically induced coma Friday at the hospital, but remained on life support.
'We’re going to need to somehow get ambulance to this location'
Recordings of emergency radio traffic and the Altoona Fire Department's incident report show that when firefighters first arrived at the park, they faced a chained gate. After they found their way in by another route, their struggles to access the accident site continued."We're clear back over here behind the Phoenix on the Raging River, about as far east in the park as you can get. But we’re going to need to somehow get ambulance to this location," a firefighter said over the emergency radio about 10 minutes into the response.
Yet more than 15 minutes after the first call to 911, ambulances had not arrived at the ride, with some heading instead toward the north entrance to the park during confusion as to whether they could enter the gate nearest the ride.
"We've got ambulances going into the north gate, the employee entrance. We need them to come to Gate 2," a firefighter said.
As a result, the first ambulance to reach Gate 2 appears not to have arrived 15 minutes after units were dispatched, as indicated by the time codes on the recordings.
Even when they did arrive, setup for a fireworks show blocked direct access for ambulances, the incident report said.
Park officials declined to comment on whether staff attempted to use a quick release valve — a typical feature of similar rides designed by Raging River maker Intamin — to drain the ride. Firefighters reported finding two feet of water in the ride when they arrived.
Altoona Fire Department Deputy Chief Lance Routson, who was at the scene, said he did not know whether there was such a valve, but that the water appeared to be at its normal level.
In declining to comment further, Vincent, the Adventureland spokesperson, said Adventureland was focusing on the investigation and "support for the Jaramillo family."
While the Jaramillos, from suburban Cedar Rapids, were not available for comment, their minister said in an email Friday that he does not believe they had had any contact from park officials.
"I have been with the Jaramillos since Sunday morning, July 4th. As far as I know, Adventureland has not reached out, communicated with, or offered any kind of support. To the best of my knowledge there has been no communication between Adventureland and the family at all," said pastor Christian Shields.
"We continue to remain heartbroken over the loss of Michael and are continuing to pray for miracles over young David."
Staff Writer Kim Norvell and Investigations Editor Bill Steiden contributed to this report.
Daniel Lathrop is a staff writer on the Register's investigative team. Reach him at (319) 244-8873 or dlathrop@dmreg.com.
Officials faced confusion, a chained gate during Adventureland fatal accident response, records and recordings show
The attorney for the family of the boy who died of his injuries maintains Adventureland employees failed to help. The park say response was "prompt."
www.desmoinesregister.com
Wow. That looks really, really bad for Adventureland. Really bad.
Damn, hate to read the older brother is on life support. Hope he pulls through!
True. ^^ Although thankfully there are not a lot of serious incidents like this one, it does seem as though an established park should have some emergency procedures in place and then a protocol to follow in the event of a bad accident, etc.
Even if park management is asleep at the wheel, I would have thought that any insurance company(ies) that would insure such an operation would have obligated the insuree to have something in place. This looks like amateur hour from the outside.
It was one of the old park workers. He fell in and the raft slammed him into the wall over and over.
There was a guy on TV this AM who specializes in mitigation of these types of cases for recreation parks…. He said the deck is generally stacked against the Park because “whatever they do will be judged to be inadequate” due to the fact of loss of life/ serious personal injury…
Actually, Ch8 has done a decent job of laying out a time line of events fir this mess… a couple of days Kate though. As Ricky said to Lucy….”Lucy, you have some ‘splaining to do!”
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Wacky Waters in Davenport got sued out of business not so long ago after a kid died there.
So long, Adventureland.
Ironically, Wacky Waters became a fire department training park after it went under. It was a pretty nice water park in the 80s and 90s.
So long, Adventureland.
Ironically, Wacky Waters became a fire department training park after it went under. It was a pretty nice water park in the 80s and 90s.
Its crazy that they had a rope zip line that you just held onto with your hands...into a murky pond. That seems insane now. Oh and I got air down that steep slide. Sometimes higher than the rails.
- Sep 13, 2002
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I can’t remember, did they ever add a wave pool? I’m a sucker for a good wave pool.
This was an interesting documentary about a dangerous water park back in the day.
torbee...I think this is definitely a real possibility that Adventureland will go under....but I was roundly criticized for thinking that here when the news surfaced....There is a lot that is gonna come out that I dont think the Park can survive.......Its a damn shame, really.....But it is one of those "not IF it will happen but WHEN it will happen" situations.....there is always gonna be more questions than Krantz can have answers for, I fear......The info on the accident was really slow coming out initially.....but it is all pretty damning now.
Schlitterbahn in Kansas City shut down soon after the kid died on the tall water slide. I think they had several attractions shut down which led them to closing up shop,
I always wondered what happened with Wacky Waters. We loved going there. I think the steep slide was called Bonzai. If you waited at the bottom you’d often see the swimsuit top coming down behind the rider.
I also remember a 2 slide water park in the cedar valley as a kid. I want to say it was in Evansdale. We loved water parks as kids.
They did add a wave pool. I think someone someone broke their neck in it. The bonsai slide scared the shit out of me.
my sister lost her top on that ride and we give her shit to this day.
Whacky Waters ruled. I went down the zip line hanging from my knees once. It was applauded.
If you weren't cut all up after leaving the Evandsdale one you were doing it wrong.
The banzai was pretty damn sweet. You could get some decent air on that first drop. One of the other two were called the Daredevil and I can’t remember the third slide.
Growing up, our parents never spent money on anything, but we would go to Wacky Waters at least a couple of times a summer. Always a fun time there. It was about the time that the wave pool was added that we stopped going regularly and I was always too short/too young for the zip line.
- Sep 13, 2002
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This isn’t going to cause Adventureland to close. Good grief.
- Sep 13, 2002
- 94,191
- 190,717
- 113
Another post for the tickler file!
I bet it’s at least a 50-50 prop. Look at Schlitterbahn in KC.
I just stood up and took my hat off for a moment of silence when seeing this pic.The banzai was pretty damn sweet. You could get some decent air on that first drop. One of the other two were called the Daredevil and I can’t remember the third slide.
Growing up, our parents never spent money on anything, but we would go to Wacky Waters at least a couple of times a summer. Always a fun time there. It was about the time that the wave pool was added that we stopped going regularly and I was always too short/too young for the zip line.
I just don't see that that happening. While this is an absolute tragedy, no doubt, i believe this is one guest death in the 40 some years the park has been open. Has there been another? I know about the employee a few years back but that sounds like the most fluke accident possible.
That park brings in a lot of money for Altoona and the surrounding area. Hard to believe they are going to shut down over one horrific tragedy. Awful situation for sure but to shut the entire park down seems a bit of an over reach when they can just shut that awful ride down.
Can you give me a year on that Wacky Waters death? Was there one in the 1990's I didn't hear about? I worked there from 1985-1990 and only know of the one in 1986, I think, and I was there on those days and watched the body pulled out. We had a drowning and West Lake had a drowning on the same day. Ours was bullshit because the kids snuck in overnight, one of them drowned. They came back the next day and lied twice about where the kid drowned. We dived in 2 different places. Then they said, "Ok. He drowned under that." One of my best friends dove under our floating dock and there the kid was.
Again, I never heard of another death, and I thought Craig ended up selling it to Kevin Tackus and it just naturally went out of business.
I have quite a few stories of girls losing their tops on the Bonzai. Good days for a teenaged guy.
2004? Looks like this kid didn’t die at Wacky Waters, but a week later due to injuries from the zip line?
Sorry for the poorly written article below. The QC Times hired anyone back then. 😝
https://qctimes.com/news/local/q-c-...cle_33d2d5f3-fed4-5073-8cab-6518497a78d8.html
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You do that. Be sure to admit you were wrong when they don’t close down. But I won’t hold my breath that you will do so.
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