six flags new jersey haunted house fire victims

In fact, Schirmer would weather the storm and continue as chair of the Technical Committee on Automatic Sprinklers, a post he held from 1974 to 1997. New York City Board of Education, the State of New Jersey, Ocean County and Jackson Township were also included in the various suits. JACKSON For more than four decades, people have gone to Six Flags Great Adventure for a day of fun, riding roller coasters, playing boardwalk-style games and taking part in other amusements. When the buses pulled into the school yard at 1 A.M., many parents who had heard the news on television were waiting nervously. Six Flags Great Adventure and its parent company Six Flags were indicted for aggravated manslaughter and accused of recklessly causing . The corridors were covered variously with wood, paper, and fabric, and one was covered with polyurethane foam. Doorway to Hell (2003) Fan-Made Documentary about the Six Flags Great Adventure Haunted Castle Fire. and our The amusement park and the safari area in which 2,000 animals roam free in a 500-acre preserve attract millions of visitors each year. Join us during Fright Fest and enjoy family-friendly events during the day & bone-chilling thrills at night. A story in NFPA Journal also describes the fire and the aftermath, as well as the resulting code changes. Fairchild and Casterline modeled the exhaust fan directly into FDS. . If the sprinkler system does not operate quickly enough or if the water does not hit high enough on the wallsyou cannot control the survivability of people in the space of origin, he told the court. Officials at the Franklin K. Lane High School said they believed that four of the other victims were friends of Mr. Valentine - three classmates at Lane and one from the Automotive High School in Queens. The committee found that Schirmer did not recognize at the time he personally accepted this engagement as an expert witness that his position as chairman of the Board of NFPA, when juxtaposed with his views in this case as an expert, represented a potentially sensational media event. At an NFPA annual meeting, a motion was made at the opening general session to remove Schirmer as chair of the Board of Directors, but the motion failed. One expert told the court that, in his opinion, sprinklers would have made no difference in the loss of lifean otherwise predictable observation on behalf of the defense, except that it was made by the chair of the NFPA Technical Committee on Automatic Sprinklers, who at the time also happened to be the chair of NFPAs Board of Directors. He hoped that they were all in private cars, but he kept their names. Park officials then tried to identify the bodies and did not announce the deaths until about 10:45 P.M. Four of the injured were identified as Patricia Lynch, 18 years old, of Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; Joan Minter, 20, of Brooklyn; Stephanie Peterson, 20, of Brooklyn, and Keith Berkery, 18, of Whippany, N.J., Peter Berkery's brother, who was overcome by smoke in a parking lot next to the Haunted Castle. Using FDS, Fairchild and Casterline measured carbon monoxide and oxygen depletion values. A report on the tragedy released by the National Fire Protection Association said the structure was made of 17 interconnected commercial trailers and plywood frames. What was supposed to be a fun event for a group of teens quickly turned into a nightmare. As Low As $14.99 Buy Now He also questioned the defenses assumption that it would take a full minute for water to reach the sprinklers in the dry-pipe system once they opened. Circles indicate people in and around the attraction when the fire began. [25], The defense denied any culpability, saying that company executives had carefully considered all safety recommendations, acting on some and rejecting others, and contending that the fire was arson and that no precautions would have saved lives in a fire where an accelerant was used. A new section titled Special Provisions for Special Amusement Buildings was added to the 1988 edition, requiring every special amusement building, such as the Haunted Castle, to be protected throughout by an approvedand properly installed and maintained automatic sprinkler system. The combination of the two really unnerved me.. Attached to its exterior were painted turrets and towers of plywood on wooden frames intended to emulate a medieval faade. 11, 1984 fire in the "Haunted Castle" at the Six Flags Great Adventure Park in New Jersey, which . ", 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, A catastrophic fire in the Haunted Castle killed eight teens in 1984, Horror deaths of 8 teens found burned alive in Six Flags Haunted House with injuries so bad they were like mannequins. "I assisted with the removal of bodies and will never forget the smell of burning tires and plastic," McDonnell said. I realized he laid the groundwork for a great comparisonhe beat the path, and we retraced his steps., For their analysis, Fairchild and Casterline used computer models, courtroom testimony, and any other information they could find. According to court testimony from 14-year-old Joey Iraca, a boy had accidentally set the fire by touching a lighter to the wall mat in the Haunted Castle. The Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure was a haunted attraction at Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Suddenly, he saw a flame shoot up into the sky like a Roman candle. Great Adventure Inc. and its parent company, the Six Flags Corporation of Chicago, are on trial on charges of aggravated manslaughter. I was assigned job as clerk in gift store. [43][44], The film says that two earlier visitors on the day of the fire reported finding an exit door chained shut, but they were not called as witnesses. Strobe lights gave glances of the grim scene. "Drawings of the attraction are required, showing entrances/exits, electrical switches, circuit breakers, layout of the visitor path, location of alarm systems and manual pull stations, and the locations of fire extinguishers and telephones," he said. Yesterday at the park was Family Christian Day, and as thousands attended the amusements, the investigators remained puzzled about what had caused the blaze. Locally, municipalities enforce state and local building codes governing fire safety and electrical wiring. Reduce your wait with an Express Haunted House Add-On. After an eight-week trial and 13 hours of deliberation, a jury found Great Adventure Inc. and Six Flags Corp. not guilty. He tried to put the flames out, but failed. Eight teenagers, ranging in age from 15 to 19, were found dead, victims of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. Fleming determined sprinkler discharge densities, which Fairchild and Casterline confirmed. David Van Arsdale, a fire inspector at the scene, said the eight bodies were found in the rear of the building - a long, corridor-like maze. Seven people were treated for smoke inhalation and released from the. Immediate implications This tragic event highlighted serious issues for the park itself as well as the Jackson Township fire . [4] Guests would enter the Castle via the typical switchback guide rails used at amusement parks which led to a gate. [11], On September 14, 1984, a grand jury in Toms River, New Jersey, indicted Six Flags Great Adventure and its parent company, Six Flags, on a charge of aggravated manslaughter, for "recklessly causing the deaths under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life". School Rings in Rubble. But maybe not even then.. As author Peter Smith, who penned a book about the disaster, wrote: "Everyone who was at Great Adventure that day and anyone who lives around here will never forget that day, as long as they shall live. [4], A fire began in the attraction at 6:35p.m. on May 11, 1984. Mr. Damesek called the families yesterday morning to offer sympathy. Restrictions apply. [4] A single trailer was placed in the middle of the configuration for use as a control room,[5][6] from which the lights, sounds, and other effects were managed; and for changing rooms for the young men and women who acted the parts of the monsters and ghouls present on the tour. Anyone can read what you share. ''At first the smoke was coming out of the top, and then it began to pour out of the haunted house front door.''. Dare to enter the Halloween event of the season, featuring family-friendly attractions during the day.and thrills once the sun goes down. To help create the right mood, creepy music was played over exterior speakers. . NFPAs Bouchard, testifying on behalf of the prosecution, said that sprinklers or smoke alarms might have allowed the fire to be detected earlier, perhaps allowing the victims, none of whom was found in the room of fire origin, to escape. [21] Shift managers called to testify stated that "none of the exit lights were working, bulbs were missing from other lights and there were no fire alarms, despite a history of patrons using matches and cigarette lighters in the dark corridors". comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A . 8 PEOPLE KILLED, 7 HURT IN BLAZE AT THEME PARK, https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/12/nyregion/8-people-killed-7-hurt-in-blaze-at-theme-park.html. Criminal charges of aggravated manslaughter were filed against the company, but a Superior Court jury in Toms River returned a not-guilty verdict. An annotated edition of t. According to The New York Times, the indictment charged the companies with reckless conduct amounting to extreme indifference to human life for failing to take adequate fire prevention measures., At the trial, Chet Schirmer, president of Schirmer Engineering Corporation and chair of both the NFPA Technical Committee on Automatic Sprinklers and the NFPA Board of Directors, along with Rolf Jensen, president of Rolf Jensen and Associates, appeared as defense witnesses. [3], The purpose of the Haunted Castle walk-through dark ride was to entertain its customers by frightening them. Fourteen, including four park employees, managed to escape. [13], Firefighters from eleven surrounding communities responded, and the fire was declared under control by 7:45p.m. New York. [17][18], The panel said the state's Uniform Construction Code[19] required the owners to install smoke detectors and several other common safety devices before the castle opened. The expert witnesses then restarted the fire as a small fire instead of acknowledging that, by then, it would have grown large enough to activate sprinklers. ''I'm going to be tongue-tied,'' he said. Thirty-three students were missing. [4][8][9], The management of Great Adventure had not expected the success of the attraction and did not pay it much attention. [citation needed], The Haunted House attraction had a gatekeeper stationed outside with a doorkeeper admitting visitors, while three or four monsters inside occupied various scenes or wandered around surprising and frightening groups of visitors. 1 A catastrophic fire in the Haunted Castle killed eight teens in 1984 Credit: MYK STREJA / WIKIPEDIA The contents fascinated him. The fire broke out shortly before 6:30 p.m., when a 14-year-old boy who was using a lighter to find his way through the attraction accidentally walked into the polyurethane foam padding covering a wall and set it on fire. An all-new way to experience the park during Scream Break, April 14 - 23, with exclusive access to haunted attractions, some of your favorite thrilling coasters, exclusive food & drinks, and more! '', See the article in its original context from. The response to Chet Schirmers Haunted Castle testimony was savage and swift, Schirmer also testified that shouts of Fire! were preferable to smoke alarms in occupied buildings, according to The New York Times, because such alarms might be misinterpreted. [10], Only one side of the structure, utilizing 9 of the 17 trailers, was occupied at the time of the fire. Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, NJ. On the 11th of May, 1984, a fire began inside the Haunted Castle attraction at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. [26] A defense forensic pathologist said arson might be the cause, saying that "high levels" of benzene in the victims' blood "could indicate some sinister reason for the fire". He told the court that the requirement for smoke detectors had traditionally not been in places where people are awake and are capable of moving., Each individual, all of us, probably carry the two best smoke and heat detectors that there are, and thats our eyes, our ability to see fire, and more importantly, our nose and our ability to smell it, Schirmer said. [4][14] No one realized that lives were lost until later that evening, when the bodies of the teenagers were discovered in one of the attraction's trailers.

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