Two inflatable jumping castles have gone airborne here this year while children were playing inside, seriously injuring two. Both times employees from local party-rental companies had installed the inflatables.
In Arizona, there are no laws or regulations for party-rental businesses and no equipment certification required for the inflatables.
Anyone can apply for a business license to rent jumping castles out of their homes for delivery or to open up a retail business renting inflatables, without special training or safety requirements, according to city officials. All that is required is to specify whether the applicant will be delivering the inflatables from home or renting them out of a storefront.
On April 2, two children were playing inside a jumping castle when it flew over a fence and over three lanes of Tucson traffic, landing on the median. A 9-year-old girl suffered serious injuries and many broken bones. She was taken to University Medical Center where she remained for about a week.
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Tucson police determined no criminal charges would be filed.
Police records show a business known as Ashley's Jumping Castles provided the inflatable, but its business phone number no longer works and the owner could not be reached for comment.
On Feb. 19 two young girls were hurt in Marana when a jumping castle went airborne, dropping a 9-year-old on a neighbor's roof.
It was unknown which rental company provided that castle, town police said.
Before the two incidents this year there didn't seem to be serious problems with jumping castles.
The local Better Business Bureau has had seven complaints in the past three years about four rental companies that provide inflatables in Tucson. None of the complaints was about safety or installment issues.
Some states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, require inflatables to pass engineering and safety standards before being rented out, but Arizona does not.
Nonetheless, the inflatables remain popular among families with young children, and rental companies defend their safety.
"It does get a little scary"
On a recent Saturday afternoon, Cecilia Nichols celebrated her son's eighth birthday at Joaquin Murrieta Park on Tucson's west side and rented a jumping castle for the party.
Nichols said it wasn't the first time she rented an inflatable, but after hearing about them going airborne twice this year, she was paying closer attention to the wind.
"The man installing it showed me how to turn it off in case it gets too windy, and we watched him tie it down and set it up so we know it's secure," Nichols said.
"It does get a little scary when you think about your children getting hurt in one of these. That's why we are going to be watching very closely."
Jesus Acosta was setting up for his 5-year-old daughter's birthday party on the ramada next to Nichols'.
He had also rented inflatables before and never had problems.
"I double-check to make sure it is very secure," Acosta said. "The stakes are two to three feet long, and they're well into the ground. I watched the guy installing them."
An employee from Marymar, a party-rental company, delivered a jumping castle to Acosta's party, installed it and said he would return later to take it down.
Installation rules
At least one business in the Tucson area allows customers to get the inflatables at a pickup site and do the installation themselves, leaving it up to the renters to secure them.
Employees from Jumps & More would not comment on the requirements involved when a client picks up the inflatable, or on the training, if any, given to the client.
Most retailers with inflatable jumping castles require that only employees install and take them down.
Jesse Molina, owner of All Star Jumps, said his employees handle all the installations for safety issues, and he has never had inflatables go airborne.
Employees are trained to secure the inflatables with stakes and ropes, and on windy days they know how to double-stake and double-tie them down, Molina said.
On extraordinarily windy days, Molina said, "We absolutely would not install them, even if the customer wanted it."
Gusts reached up to 30 mph in Marana when the jumping castle went airborne, and gusts were at 19 mph in the city incident, the National Weather Service reported.
Rental requirements
Like most rental-company owners, Dale Morse, owner of Bounce Around Tucson, requires an agreement whereby renters agree to have an adult present to supervise the whole time, and that as soon as winds hit 25 mph renters must deflate the castles.
The waiver does not fully free the retailer of responsibility or liability, said Ted Schmidt, an attorney specializing in injury and wrongful-death cases at Kinerk, Schmidt & Sethi PLLC Attorneys.
"If the release does not have specifics of everything that could go wrong and if it doesn't spell it out, the families could hold them accountable," he said.
The person signing the waiver must also be told of the risks and how to prevent them, Schmidt said.
"doing everything right"
This time of the year is peak season for outdoor parties with inflatable rentals, and business hasn't been affected by the two incidents, said Bounce Around's Morse.
Some clients have raised concerns when they inquire about renting a jumping castle, but Morse said he has explained the safety measures and people end up renting them.
"We were already doing everything right," he said. "I want people to know if you take the right safety precaution, despite what happened, kids can have fun in a safe environment."
Contact reporter Fernanda Echavarri at fechavarri@azstarnet.com or 573-4224.