Tauranga bouncy castle: ‘Freak gust’ blamed for New Year’s Eve Fergusson Park incident that injured five

A bouncy castle company operator says a “freak gust of wind” is to blame for a New Year’s Eve incident in Tauranga that left five people injured and children “traumatised”.

Witnesses have described the “terrifying” moment a bouncy castle blew away and rolled through the crowd and “squashed” people at the community celebration at Fergusson Park in Matua about 7.30pm.

A Tauranga dad has described how event-goers desperately grabbed a power cord and jumped on the out-of-control inflatable to bring it to a stop.

The Tauranga City Council reported two of the five people injured were taken to hospital, and Hato Hone St John said one was in a serious condition when transported.

A Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty spokeswoman said today one person was admitted to Tauranga Hospital on New Year’s Eve from the bouncy castle event. The person was discharged on January 1 at 9am.

Geoff Pearson, operator and director of Rockup North Ltd, which was running the bouncy castle, told the Bay of Plenty Times today all safety protocols had been followed but a “freak gust of wind” picked up the bouncy castle and “ripped it out of the ground”.

Some witnesses reported seeing people in the rolling inflatable, but Pearson said no one was on it when it took off as it had been shut down about five minutes beforehand, due to high wind gusts.

“Staff were in the process of securing equipment when that particularly strong gust struck. The staff were actively having to turn away people.”

Pearson said none of his four staff working were injured but were “shaken by the enormity of what had happened”.

”One staff comment was that, ‘it was like the hand of God reached down and plucked the inflatable from the ground’.”

Pearson said protocols had been followed as per the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, including having fencing, a safety sign, mats, the blower fenced off and a trained adult supervisor.

”That incident could have been just so much worse had there not been proper protocols in place and followed.

“Every single stake in there was oversized, every single safety precaution was taken, the unit had been signed off by the Tauranga City Council inspectors.

”Unfortunately, it was a freak situation but still our hearts go out to those families who may have a situation where they’re not all together right now. Unfortunately, with freak weather conditions now due to climate change, you can do everything by the book and do everything correctly but it still does not prevent accidents from happening.”

Pearson said: “Our thoughts go out to those families who have been harmed by this inflatable incident and we apologise for any inconvenience felt by patrons at the event for closing down the units prior to the wind uplifting the inflatable at Fergusson Park, Matua, Tauranga on New Year’s Eve.”

“I back my staff 100 per cent for [making] the right call and who are, in fact, heroes in my eyes for being brave enough to close the units at a busy public event, hence preventing what would have been a catastrophe.

“It goes to show that by following safety protocols we can in fact prevent major harm.

“It was a harrowing long evening for my staff and the officials of the event which was primarily investigated by NZ Police and will be followed up by WorkSafe NZ.”

Ambulances at Fergusson Park, Matua, after a bouncy castle blew away. Photo / Carmen Hall

Tauranga parents Niekkie and Vanessa Potgieter were at the event with their 7-year-old daughter and family friends.

Niekkie Potgieter said he and his friend got up to help when they saw the bouncy castle rolling.

“As it rolled, I just saw [what] looked like a rope so I just ran to grab the rope to try and slow it down and as I grabbed that, I thought how am I going to stop this thing alone?

“But as I looked, there were about another 20 guys jumping on [the bouncy castle] as well.”

He then found it was not a rope he was holding but a power cord. The group managed to bring the bouncy castle to a standstill.

Vanessa Potgieter said she did not see any children on the inflatable as it tumbled towards them.

“The main concern was if a child had been injured or dead, you know, like my daughter having to see that,” she said.

“Children were crying and traumatised, my daughter told me she’s never going on a bouncy castle again.”

Niekkie Potgieter has described how he helped bring the rolling bouncy castle to a halt. Photo / Vanessa Potgieter

Kc Ann Southee told the Herald she and her children would have been the next people to go on the bouncy castle before it took off.

“The operator went in herself and cleared all children and adults out,” Southee said.

“Then my kids were about to jump in when the operator said no, it needs a safety check first because of the high winds.

“And not even a second after, it took off, hitting people and picking people up while it was bouncing and flipping.”

Southee said she was “100 per cent no one was on the castle” when it happened but people were still hurt.

A witness who would only be named as Anna said the bouncy castle blew about 100m.

She said children were being “squashed” underneath it as parents chased it and she also saw a man trying to crawl out from under it.

”It was terrifying.”

Another witness, Corey Hona, said the event fell quiet and people were “shocked” as the bouncy castle went “flying through the air”.

Tauranga woman Alana Portsmouth was at the event with her mobility dog, Gus, and said an older man saw the bouncy castle coming directly for them and told her to lie down.

Alana Portsmouth was grateful her mobility dog, Gus, stayed calm. Photo / Supplied

It rolled past them and landed just in front of them.

“I’m really grateful that he told me to lie down because otherwise I would have probably naturally stood up and tried to run away but I can’t run, it would’ve probably knocked me over.”

She was also grateful Gus stayed calm.

Other witnesses reported hearing “screaming”, having to scramble out of the inflatable’s path and seeing injured people being treated by ambulance staff.

Council acting chief executive Gareth Wallis said he understood five people were injured and two of them were taken to hospital, including one who was initially treated at the scene. After the incident, all inflatables at council New Year’s Eve events were shut down as a precaution.

The council had heard conflicting reports as to whether anyone was on the bouncy castle when it took off. It had not come to any conclusions about what happened as its investigation was ongoing. He said there would have been a safety plan in place.

Shocked witnesses watched as wind picked up a bouncy castle and sent it tumbling through Fergusson Park, Matua.

The council said in a statement its team’s thoughts were with the five injured people.

“We are currently taking written statements from those involved and we’re working with the bouncy castle operator, Rockup (North) Ltd, to ascertain exactly what took place.”

The council was waiting on further direction from WorkSafe New Zealand, and expected to hear from it by January 4.

A WorkSafe spokesman earlier told the Bay of Plenty Times it had been notified of the incident and was making initial inquiries.

A Hato Hone St John spokeswoman said it received a call at 7.38pm on Saturday about the incident. It sent two ambulances and other staff to assist the event health services team already present.

The spokeswoman said one patient was assessed, treated and transported to Tauranga Hospital in a serious condition while four other patients - two in a moderate condition and two in a minor condition - were assessed and treated at the scene.

A police spokeswoman said police were notified of the incident at 7.42pm.

MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said wind recordings from Tauranga Airport on New Year’s Eve showed easterly gusts of 31km/h to 52km/h between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.

Playtime Bouncy Castles owner Craig Audas said he had six bouncy castles across council-run New Year’s Eve events at Tauranga Racecourse and Gordon Spratt Reserve in Pāpāmoa.

He shut down two at Pāpāmoa for safety reasons before 7.15pm after seeing windmeter readings showing gusts up to 26-28km. The racecourse site was okay but staff shut down operations due to impending wet weather.

Audas, who has been operating his business for more than 10 years, said he was “really saddened” to hear of the incident at the Matua celebration.

- Additional reporting Samantha Motion, Carmen Hall