Fire at Universal's Islands of Adventure

[ericpabear]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... 4887.story

Universal's Islands of Adventure reopens section evacuated because of fire
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls ride will remain closed indefinitely

Universal Studios Orlando
By Susan Jacobson and Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
7:58 p.m. EST, January 1, 2011

A section at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure has reopened after a fire forced its evacuation this evening.
Flames and heavy black smoke erupted at Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, a water ride at Islands of Adventure, about 5:00 p.m., a Universal spokesman said. Toon Lagoon, where the ride is, was evacuated, park spokesman Tom Schroder said.
"We do have a fire," Schroder. "We evacuated the entire island where the ride is."
The fire was extinguished in a little more than half an hour, fire officials said tonight. It was not in the main building, but near a trough through which the log-shaped cars move. No damage estimates were available.
Orlando fire Lt. Arnold Alvarez said no one was hurt. An investigation is under way to determine the cause, he said.
Toon Lagoon is now open again, but Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls will main closed until the problem is pinpointed and fixed, Schroder said.
"Ripsaw Falls will be closed tomorrow, but beyond that, it's too soon to speculate," he said.
A park guest, Anthony Rosa, said he was in the Harry Potter area when he saw smoke from across the lake in the center of the park. A moment later, he smelled burning plastic.
A large crowd began walking across a bridge and away from Ripsaw Falls, Rosa said. The number of those evacuated was not immediately available, but Schroder said dozens of people were in the area.
Rosa said he wouldn't go back to the ride immediately even if it reopened.
"It's a bit concerning," he said. "I'd definitely be second-guessing it the whole time."
Susan Gartner, a chaperone with the marching band from Wamego High School in Kansas, said she was eating when she saw black smoke rise out of Toon Lagoon. She began trying to contact other chaperones and students, who said they saw flames shooting out of the ride.
"Thank goodness" they were OK, Gartner said.
Anyone who witnessed the fire and can provide photos and/or video, please send via e-mail to news@orlandosentinel.com.
Schroder would not say what compensation might be available to people who were forced to get off the ride.
"In a situation like this, we would always work with our guests and do what is right," he said. "We're happy to work with our guests and make them feel that they're accommodated.
The park will remain open until midnight as scheduled, and people are still coming and going.

[MadEye]

Anyone else see the irony here? Of all the things to catch fire, it was one of the water rides. The ride itself is ok but I like using the spray cannons after the main drop on the dry guests. Hope it opens soon as I have a lot of quarters to use.

Glad everyone is ok, though!

[Amy]

That is kind of scary! That poor chaperone ~ what she must have been thinking when trying to contact the students and other chaperones!!
Definitely glad there were no injuries!

[Wizzard419]

Didn't Splash at WDW have a fire too this year? The log flume is cursed!

[mindflipper]

Actually, isn't this the second ride at US-IOA to be closed for a long period of time? It seems IOA is been a bit plagued with problems closing their rides.

[Len90]

According to the list of incidents at Universal parks, this is the first fire in any attraction at the any of their parks. From what I've been reading, it was a major fire which is leading me to believe it will be down for a long time, maybe even forever.

[Sleepy90]

According to the list of incidents at Universal parks, this is the first fire in any attraction at the any of their parks. From what I've been reading, it was a major fire which is leading me to believe it will be down for a long time, maybe even forever.

Was it not a major fire that closed the King Kong ride.

[mindflipper]

According to the list of incidents at Universal parks, this is the first fire in any attraction at the any of their parks. From what I've been reading, it was a major fire which is leading me to believe it will be down for a long time, maybe even forever.

Was it not a major fire that closed the King Kong ride.

Correct, Sleepy90, King Kong at US-Hollywood did burn down, plus some other buildings on the backlot tour. Also, I remember reading a few months back that some recently opened ride at US-Orlando had to be closed due to structural concerns on safety and was going to need to stayed closed for a long while due to repairs.

[Len90]

According to the list of incidents at Universal parks, this is the first fire in any attraction at the any of their parks. From what I've been reading, it was a major fire which is leading me to believe it will be down for a long time, maybe even forever.

Was it not a major fire that closed the King Kong ride.

Correct, Sleepy90, King Kong at US-Hollywood did burn down, plus some other buildings on the backlot tour. Also, I remember reading a few months back that some recently opened ride at US-Orlando had to be closed due to structural concerns on safety and was going to need to stayed closed for a long while due to repairs.

Whoops should have been "any of their FLORIDA parks" That was a massive fire in 2008 at the Hollywood park. I'm not sure about the structural concerns thing though.

[mindflipper]

Now thinking about it, I think it was suppose to be their equivalent to the rock'n'roller coaster that had some problems shortly after it opened.

[Wizzard419]

Which ride?

They do have a few flagship coasters in Japan (one of them may even put disney to shame), and I think they imported Rock It coaster.

[mindflipper]

Which ride?

They do have a few flagship coasters in Japan (one of them may even put disney to shame), and I think they imported Rock It coaster.

Is that the name of it at US-Orlando? I know it was their rip-off on the RnR that had some "engineering" difficulties.

[Wizzard419]

I actually don't know if that is the US name or the Japan name, but it's odd that the Japanese version (if they are exactly the same) didn't have any major issues.

[mindflipper]

I actually don't know if that is the US name or the Japan name, but it's odd that the Japanese version (if they are exactly the same) didn't have any major issues.

May have been the same design (or slightly modified), but maybe not the same construction company...

[MadEye]

Which ride?

They do have a few flagship coasters in Japan (one of them may even put disney to shame), and I think they imported Rock It coaster.

Is that the name of it at US-Orlando? I know it was their rip-off on the RnR that had some "engineering" difficulties.

It's called Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and it was closed for a little under a month because of the vehicles, not the tracks or structure itself.