JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Sunday afternoon, News4Jax received a statement from a fair spokesperson regarding the condition of the fair employee who was injured Saturday. It reads “We spoke with Belle City [Amusements] and they said their employee was released last night from the hospital. It was a broken arm.”
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department says they transported a fair employee from the Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Saturday evening.
A spokesperson for the fair confirmed that the person was an employee doing maintenance on a ride. However, the spokesperson told News4JAX that the person did not have life-threatening injuries.
The fair didn’t have details about when and what ride this incident took place.
The fair referred us to Bell City Amusements for more information. News4JAX reached out to the company and are still waiting to hear back.
Belle City Amusements is a company that provides state and county fairs with amusement rides.
News4Jax asked fairgoers how they felt about what happened.
Max Sheppard said “I just kind of think it comes with the territory. There’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of mechanical things that come along with these rides so there is bound to be accidents happening and I wouldn’t let that spook you to the whole idea of coming to the fair.”
Meanwhile, Nayeli Jimenez said “I think I shouldn’t go on any other rides. I’ve heard about people getting injured on these rides before which makes me kind of suspicious of them.”
This isn’t the first time someone was injured at the Jacksonville fair. In 2018, seven people were injured on the Sky Flyer. Reports from the Florida Bureau of Fair Rides inspection pointed blame at the ride’s operators. Reports also said the ride was counterfeit.