Phoenix firefighter's son killed when bounce house tossed by gust of wind
Bounce houses can blow away at moderate wind speeds, according to research. Arizona has no inflatable regulations.
How does wind impact safety of bounce houses?
Geography professor at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences John Knox explains on FOX Weather.
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – A wind gust sent a bounce house flying Saturday evening, killing the toddler son of a Phoenix firefighter.
"That afternoon, several children were playing in a bounce house when a strong gust of wind sent it airborne into the neighboring lot," the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The 2-year-old son, Bodhi, was rushed to the hospital but died of his injuries, according to the Sheriff's Office and Firehouse 25.
"To add to the unimaginable hell that they have been through the last 2 days, Karl and Cristy are expecting a child at the end of May," Firehouse 25 wrote on social media. "Karl and Cristy have been an integral part of Firehouse 25 family for many years including Rescue 25 and paramedic precepting."
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Another girl was injured, sent to the hospital and has since been released. Local media reported she suffered a broken arm.
"This appears to have been a tragic accident," stated the sheriff's office. "We would like to extend our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the grieving family."
‘Moderate wind’ can blow away inflatables, research finds
Wind at the time was blowing between 6 and 17 mph with occasional gusts up to 20 mph. The maximum wind speed should be no more than 15-25 mph while using a bounce house, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
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File: An inflatable obstacle course.
(Mindy Schauer/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register / Getty Images)
"Even the regulations tend to say don’t use these houses above 25 mph," John Knox, lead author of the first-ever study on wind-related bounce house accidents, told FOX Weather in 2022. "We found that about 50% of the time, the winds that were measured as close as we could get to the bounce house were below 25 miles an hour."
For events with nearby wind data available, Knox noted that 22% of all incidents occurred with reported wind speeds lower than any regulatory gold standard, also known as the American Society for Testing in Materials. Knox found that inflatables could blow away even in a moderate breeze.
File: A colorful bounce house.
(Adobe Stock Image / FOX Weather)
The CPSC estimated that in 2018 alone, hospital emergency departments treated more than 18,000 injuries due to inflatables.
Knox's study reported a more conservative number. It documented 132 cases worldwide from 2000-2021. These mishaps caused at least 479 injuries in adults and juveniles and at least 28 deaths. The author told FOX Weather that the numbers are most likely undercounted. He and his team collected data off the internet, where not every accident is reported.
Many, but not all, of the bounce house accidents the researchers logged occurred in states with no regulations governing bounce house use.
(Lindsay Robinson / University of Georgia / FOX Weather)
Arizona is one of the seventeen states that either have no guidelines or expressly exclude inflatables from regulation. Nineteen U.S. states’ laws or regulations explicitly cite ASTM standards, which set limits on the wind speed in which inflatables should be used and, for commercial bounce houses, require the presence of a "meteorologically knowledgeable attendant."