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May 17, 2008 12:12 am US/Pacific
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Calaveras County Fair Ride Collapse Injures 24
ANGELS CAMP (CBS 5 / AP) ―
A carnival ride at the annual fair celebrating the popular Calaveras County jumping frog contest collapsed Friday, injuring all 24 people aboard.
Three were airlifted to hospitals in Modesto and Sacramento, but the extent of the injuries was not immediately known, said Sgt. Dave Seawell, a spokesman for the Calaveras County Sheriff's Department.
Most of the riders were children, and all suffered some form of injury, he said.
The carnival ride, called the Yo-Yo, collapsed shortly after 6 p.m. Friday at the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, about 80 miles southeast of Sacramento.
The ride has metal arms, each with a seat at the end attached by a chain that swing outward as the ride picks up speed. The arms rise and fall as they spin around a center pole, putting the seats horizontal to the ground.
The pole apparently collapsed, causing the arms to crash back toward the center, said Dennis Townsend, a chief in the Calaveras County unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.
"The mechanism that lifts the people is the one that collapsed," he said.
The riders were hurt when their seats struck the ground or other parts of the machine, he said. Authorities could not immediately determine what might have caused the accident.
"We don't know, and nobody at the scene has been able to make a competent determination as to why," Townsend said.
He did not know whether anyone on the ground was injured.
State accident investigators were en route to the fairgrounds.
The fair remained open after the accident, but the carnival area had been shut down, said Laurie Giannini, the fairground's marketing director. She said there were no fatalities and that the riders who received minor injuries had been treated.
The three victims who had been airlifted were taken to the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Doctor's Hospital in Modesto and Modesto Memorial North Hospital.
A spokeswoman at UC Davis Medical Center said she could provide no information without a patient's name. Memorial North Hospital would say only that it had received one victim who was in stable condition.
Doctor's Hospital received a female patient with minor injuries, nursing supervisor Robert Norton said.
Gail Witzlsteiner, a spokeswoman for Sonora Regional Medical Center in Sonora, said five teenagers—four girls and a boy ranging in age from 13 to 18 -- were treated for minor injuries.
Mark Twain Hospital in San Andreas was caring for five patients, said Jessica Norris, an emergency room clerk. Three arrived by ambulance and two came in on their own. Most complained of knee pain.
"That's the common one," she said.
The Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee opened Wednesday and is held each year in late May. It was inspired by a Mark Twain story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which focuses on a character and his jumping frog, named Dan'l Webster.
The fictional frog-jumping contest is rigged in one gambler's favor when he secretly fills his opponent's frog with buckshot.
The Calaveras County fairgrounds is located just outside the Gold Rush-era town of Angels Camp in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It bills itself as an "old-fashion county fair" with exhibits and a variety of entertainment.
Last year's jumping frog contest drew 4,000 entries. This year's final is scheduled for Sunday.
The jubilee has been held since 1928, according to the Union Democrat newspaper of Sonora.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)