What says summer more than a carnival with good rides and good food?
The Fireball at the Forest County Festival in Crandon, Wisconsin, is one of those rides that has a loop big and fast enough to make people get tunnel vision.
At about 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, midloop, a cart of nine people stalled on the roller coaster. Passengers were left hanging upside down for more than three hours as rescue teams worked to free them.
A mechanical issue stalled the ride, Capt. Brennan Cook, from the Crandon Fire Department, told NBC affiliate WFJW.
“There is a mechanical failure with the ride where it became stuck in the upright position,” Cook said. “The ride was recently inspected by the state of Wisconsin here on site, and at this time we don’t have any other information.”
Specialized technical rescue teams from three local counties were called to remove the passengers from the cart, per a fire station release. Each had to be hooked up to a safety rope before the over-the-shoulder harnesses of the ride could be released.
A video by WISN, an ABC affiliate, shows the passengers dangling as the safety crew talks to them. Family members and eyewitnesses watched from below.
All ride occupants were safely rescued from the roller coaster and received precautionary medical aid just after 5 p.m. One was transported to a nearby hospital. The rescue mission took 10 fire apparatus, nine ambulances and 50 personnel, per the release.
State authorities were dispatched on Monday to look into the mechanical issue, per The Associated Press.